To Serve Man!

Oh dear...I watched The Twilight Zone this evening (like I have almost every day for the past two months).

After having seen 'To Serve Man,' I had a few thoughts cross my mind. One was to think about being a vegetarian.

Another was that I found out one more source the Simpsons parodied!

The Twilight Zone is a fantastic television series, with some strong personalities behind the script writing and acting.

Glued to my mug

Hello, my name is Rob, and I'm addicted to caffeine.

Fringe Benefits: a party on the edge

The Liberal Democratic Party holds no specific moral beliefs, except that the individual is the strongest pillar in society.

We're a fringe party—there's no doubt about it. But, we are a party with positive benefits; a party in tune with change and respect.

Change—because we know one size doesn't fit all. We know society constantly evolves and never stays the same. And perhaps the greatest thing we do know, is that the future is full of unknowns. We do not act like we have the answers to everything, however the Liberal Democratic Party believes that the key to a prosperous future is opening the floodgates of individual thought, spontaneity and action. Once the freedom of the individual is allowed to break away from arbitrary chains that hold us down, and the power of government is limited, the chance for genuine change is possible. Until that time, we won't see change but largely a repeat of the same old problems with government.

Respect—because we understand every individual has their own beliefs. Whether you be Christian, Muslim or Atheist, prefer the opposite sex or the same sex, enjoy smoking or absolutely loathe it, the Liberal Democrats do not care. What we do care about is that you remain free to choose what you do with your own life. The Party stands neutral in an Australian political climate that clamours to mould and shape our community into one way of life. Respect of the individual is paramount, and we will never back down on this.

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What will the LDP do?

Compulsory voting will be scrapped. The Liberal Democrats believe that in a true democracy, citizens have every right not to vote. The idea of penalising those that do not vote, seriously undermines the choice of citizens. A free society is one that offers you the chance to vote, but doesn't coerce you to do so.

The Liberal Democrats support wider immigration. We view the security of this country as vital, but we also believe verified refugees should get a chance to make a better life in this country.

Just as every citizen has the right to live, we support everyone's right to end their life when they are suffering terminal illnesses. Only the individual holds title over their own life, and this doesn't preclude them from ending it.

Where there are victimless crimes, the Liberal Democrats will push to remove them. We disagree with the position of most parties that feel they need to curb your way of life when it comes to things that affect only yourself. In holding the principle of choice, citizens who choose not to wear helmets on bicycles, not wear seatbelts or use recreational drugs, are taking on the risks themselves. If they don't harm anyone else, the government should not be involved.

A proviso to this – if citizens take on such risks, they should pay for their own consequences.

Nobody in a civil society should be treated differently, which is why marriage will be open to all couples, whether you are of the same sex or the opposite sex. We have equal treatment under the law for gender and ethnicity, but non-heterosexuals are still left behind by outdated and discriminatory legislation.

Economically, the government should not play a part in voluntary exchanges. We support deregulation, free trade and privatisation.

If you are inclined to know more, you can make your way to the LDP website (www.ldp.org.au).

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A person’s life is their effort, where should they be limited or controlled in the way they dispense with their effort, they have lost their freedom. They have lost control of their life. They are no longer an individual of free action, but a controlled subject at the whim of the few that rule over them.

The elimination of their basic rights to ownership over one’s own body, life and effort will never allow for a betterment of humankind and will always work in the reverse. This is what the Liberal Democrats support, and why we offer a promising future.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A procrastinator blogging...what a good idea!! Nothing is bound to occur...

Why am I posting this? Because it is incomplete.

Time and again, this is my brain at work, or not working as is truly what is happening here. What was I aiming to achieve when I started? Something discussing dreams and ambitions, but when it comes to my life this changes with the wind.

All I've done is fall into the procrastination that I knew would present itself at some point. And while doing things, the some point is never very far away.

When considering procrastination and assuming it will happen, it becomes a double blow that pulls you further and further into the trap of inaction. Am I 'designed' this way? Can I possibly escape this mess? I don't know. The side problem to this is of course freedom of the will. If we don't have that, we might be bound to events and everything else; the self loses the importance it tends to place on its shoulders.

Someone said that attitude counts for a lot, and perhaps it does. If you have a positive attitude, then you might convince your own mind to go the distance. But, I would largely suggest the right attitude will only come with the right environment and disposition to move that way.

When looking at human action, I think we do struggle to attain the positive things in life. We make it our goal to gain the good, and weed out the bad. It is almost the natural process of elimination; that we look for the good in everything we do. This is possibly the biggest driver of life in general. If it wasn't for this, I doubt life could exist.

The 'good' is held subjectively. Each being has their own scale and their own driver, to which the same structure or values does not match 100% with any other being. Each is unique.

The taming factor of all this search for the good is objective reality. It will always present you with a wall to your dreaming. The limits of reality allows you to do only so much of the good you dream, but however, it is the realm that lets you live to dream.

Anyway, I have managed to get something out of this somehow, which I'll try to analyse and get nowhere.

The original post is below, and as you can see, it is half completed and I don't think I will finish it.

We're all ephemeral and somewhere out there is a mid-youth crisis

I'm gonna stand on top of the world, and see who's pulling those strings, and find out what the hell is going on. I'm gonna know everything. I'm gonna feel happy at the top.

I'm gonna be the one to tell everyone what everything is all about.

Oh, and I'm gonna complete every task I start—I'm gonna be a superstar.

Meanwhile, back on Earth:

I want to stand on top of the world, and I do want knowledge. But I'll only ever want what is interesting, and that will always be fleeting. The quickly, and ever changing (ever changing whilst I breathe anyway), i

Change, a necessary element in my life.

The recurring question—why bother? Why bother with anything? What's the reason for everything? Why am I asking questions? I don't really need a reason.

Procrastination

I'm procrasti

Day dreaming – about things I should do in life

Life's goals

Petulance

I'm better than you mentality...EGO

Looking at myself, why do I like what I like and want what I want. Freedom of the will?

Is capitalism moral?

Ok, here’s ‘my two cents.’

To start, I regard capitalism and liberty as one and the same and I will use them interchangeably. Also, please do not conflict liberty with the vast differences of 'positive liberties' and 'positive rights,' they are contrary to my position presented here.

Perhaps capitalism stands outside of morality. It is possibly not a definable idea that must be forcibly adhered to, but something that can nurture beneficial ideas.

I would like to attribute memetics to the overall positive, and extremely necessary, design of liberty. It in essence does not associate with self-interest or altruism, but rather stands aside to let civilisation voluntarily shape its course. Following this view of memetics, things that work are utilised, and things that don’t work are eventually weeded out. (Apologies for the longwindedness of this, but as a side note, it is interesting that Karl Popper had discussed a similar approach to ideas in his analysis of knowledge and the body-mind problem. It represents what Popper called an “oversimplified tetradic schema of the method of trial and of error elimination”: P1-->TT-->EE-->P2 : “Here ‘P1’ means the problem the problem from which we start. It may be a practical or a theoretical problem. ‘TT’ is a tentative theory which we offer in order to solve that problem. ‘EE’ means a process of error elimination, by way of critical tests, or of critical discussion. ‘P2’ means the problems with which we end – the problems which emerge from the discussions and tests.”)

Quoting Karl Popper, and supporting why I believe the above is important to morality (beware, it’s only an opinion, you’d have to read his books for the foundations of his beliefs), “I think we are living in a world in which we have constantly to revise and constantly to rethink over not only our scientific propositions but also our moral attitudes. There arise new problems which cut right through what we have thought of as generally accepted moral precept, and so on.”

Now, I can see that since Descartes, and following the line of French rationalists, that social engineering has become popular. It is posited that, by rational thinking, a system can be designed that actively moves society towards things that are deemed beneficial to humanity. It is this particular trail of ‘planned’ moralism which 1) cannot understand the constant evolution of humanity, and, 2) by virtue of man’s individuality, not have knowledge/information required to direct appropriately.

Following from that line of thinking, it might not be possible to say one is always better than the other (in terms of selfishness and altruism). There might rather be another view that is tied into an understanding of humanity’s vast differences in opinions and action, but that in the end, we assess each idea for its usefulness and amend as required. The key of course in this view is that we can’t absolutely conclude what is best for humanity, but rather leave it to individuals and inevitable societal cohesion.

When I read John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty,” there was one part that I found influential in my thinking, “Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing."

F. A. Hayek alluded to the same idea in “The Constitution of Liberty.” It wasn’t as though we must ascribe to one belief or the other, but a fusion of the two that worked best in whichever situation. Quoting him, “General altruism, however, is a meaningless conception. Nobody can effectively care for other people as such; the responsibilities we can assume must always be particular, can concern only those about whom we know concrete facts and to whom either choice or special conditions have attached us. It is one of the fundamental rights and duties of a free man to decide what and whose needs appear to him most important.

“The recognition that each person has his own scale of values which we ought to respect, even if we do not approve of it, is part of the conception of the value of the individual personality. How we value another person will necessarily depend on what his values are. But believing in freedom means that we do not regard ourselves as the ultimate judges of another person’s values, that we do not feel entitled to prevent him from pursuing ends which we disapprove so long as he does not infringe the equally protected sphere of others.”

With liberty and capitalism as the bulwark of individuality and spontaneity, it allows this social engineering to occur, but without coercion and absoluteness that I don’t believe possible.

The scribbles that made their way into my notepad for day one of my trip...

I stopped writing into this thing after a day. I should also note that I kept slipping in and out of past and present tense because I was doing just that at the time.

---

Flying to LA...

Didn’t sleep – just wasn’t going to happen.

Didn’t have to pay for entertainment.

Started watching Twilight...big mistake...Ended up laughing out loud because it was so pathetic. Edward Cullen – ugly attempt at James Dean or something. His eyebrows bundled with his facial structure almost makes me want to vomit. Acting is poor. Only a mindless teen will get anything out of this.

Stopped movie at 30 minutes. Can’t believe I got so far.

I don’t have a pen, only a mechanical pencil. Will need to borrow one to fill out the arrival forms. Can’t seem to decide who to ask (Tania is only two rows behind, and the old couple next to me have one). Need to ask eventually.

Only an hour to go – glad I had an aisle seat. I think I used the toilet more than anyone else on the plane—go me...

My nose has been dry for a couple of hours now. It is really annoying.

5.40 AM LA time, 10.40 AEST – Haven’t landed, but felt like noting the time. I’ve been up since 5 AM Brisbane time—still a long day ahead.

On the excitement part (Where in the lead up to this holiday everyone asks “Are you excited yet?” or “Are you getting excited?”—being on the plane, it still hasn’t hit me yet. Might happen when the plane lands. Hell it might not happen until I see something iconic, like the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m not suggesting that I won’t “feel” it—I will!

Would it be lame to have The Doors’ “L.A. Woman” playing as I land? Who cares, I’m going to.

I wonder what passing through customs is like in America. I could be “randomly selected” again like back in Brisbane.

I think I’ll stop writing my random thoughts down...have to fill in forms.

OK – I’VE MADE IT

I’M IN THE USA!

I did end up listening to L.A. Woman as we landed. I must be a tacky sentimentalist.

I walked from the international terminal to terminal ‘1’ to catch my Southwest Airlines flight to SFO. Just as I was leaving, I got hawked at the exit. A guy gave me advice on getting to the Southwest terminal and ran a guilt trip to squeeze money out of me to help children or whatever. First expense in the USA – charity - $5!

I should mention that as I was landing, I felt the excitement I’ve been waiting for. Ever since I landed I have had a smile on my face.

Going through customs – there were no smiles. Got served by a Russian-American Homeland Security Guard.

Passing through the second phase of customs, I handed the man my passport. ‘Are you an enemy of the State my man?’ he said looking at my t-shirt. My response was ‘not this State!’ and I was allowed through...

One thing I can say about LAX—old! (and crummy).

I felt lost as usual, but managed to check my baggage at Southwest without much trouble. Since I got out of customs quickly, I asked about getting an earlier flight. The cost was $75, so I didn’t bother, and stuck with the original flight to SFO (a 3 hour wait).

Now, getting through security check here is more intensive that flying internationally! I had to take my shoes off!

When I passed security, I just roamed around looking at the different stores and immediately noticed the amount of bars. This tempted me to buy a beer (Samuel Adams Light at $6.75 – expensive methinks). Got checked for age, and asked if I was from England.

After the beer, I needed a coffee. It hit me that I had been up for a while. Still felt pretty good though.

At Starbucks (couldn’t be anywhere else), I wasn’t sure how to order a normal coffee, so just went for a cappuccino. Thought I had correct change – another mistake! Didn’t remember Lisa’s advice – tax is on top of their listed price – out came an extra dollar...

Now, I’m just sitting around waiting to catch my flight, writing this crap out because I’ve nothing better to do!

Latest update heading to San Francisco...DELAYED! Not 10.50, but 12.30 now.

Something tells me I should have changed to the earlier time!

FUN-FUN-FUN.

*A random note about LAX (and America) – Shoe shiners!

Tried out internet access from a kiosk. I will probably need to change my passwords now.

There is apparently fog and rain in SFO, and it isn’t too flash here – where is the sunshine? Did I mention that I hate shitty weather?

Caught the crappy Southwest Airline plane – it would remind people of Ansett here...

Plus side - soft drinks were included. Ended up getting a coffee with cream, which turned out being some chemical filled powder. Whatever it was, the coffee tasted terrible. I can see why they are cheap anyway. The staff seem ordinary, unlike people you would find on Virgin Blue (I’m not fussed by it, just pointing it out – they’re old).

As indicated earlier, SFO is wet and foggy here. I swear we had one of the slowest landings because of the conditions – it didn’t help I needed to do the biggest pee in my life.

Having just caught the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), I can’t really say much about San Francisco yet. Bad weather doesn’t help much.

My neck hurts from carrying the suitcase, and I’ve yawned about a hundred times. It’s also cool, a bit like Melbourne weather at the moment.

Just saw some pigeons...are these notes me talking to myself...might be better when Shane turns up.

A short monologue, verging on soliloquy for my mind

"for you, who are a human being, the question 'to be or not to be' is the question 'to think or not to think.'"

The cool breeze flows past my body singing a tune of glee. I sit here in the golden sunshine watching the sea slowly ebb its way down the beach; the gulls whistling their happiness, and the occasional dolphin exhibiting their talents. My time here, this dream of better days is just that—a dream. I bend and twist my thoughts into an imagined world of exaggerated ideals.

The phone at my desk begins ringing, alerting me of where I am, and what I am not doing—where I do not want to be, but am. The ringing of the phone pierced through my minds’ determination to withdraw, and pulled me back to reality—I am at work.

* * *

My fancies, my hopes and my thoughts mean little should I not venture to act on them; not without planning but after appropriate summation of the facts of the objective world. With this I mean that my thoughts amount to nothing if I don’t take that step of turning them into reality. I sit here in my office, observing the clock edge closer to five. I may be attending to my work, but I do not embrace it. I embrace rather what I want to do, and not what I am doing. The harshness of existence requires that we not remain idle for long; otherwise failure and certainly our end will be the consequence.

The nature of dreaming and our very definition of it ascribe an irrational view of possibilities of us and humanity. It is the power of the mind to choose, and ignore the way reality is. But—one thing remains constant no matter how much we think about it: the world is as it is. No matter the ignorance of the mind, we cannot defy reality or make as though something can be altered by will alone.

It is our reconciliation or understanding of the two worlds that are apparent, subjective and objective, but it is always the objective that wins out. We cannot allow ourselves to be foreshadowed with illusory dreams while our life—our being—fades away. We cannot succumb to wishing things out of the earth, drilling for mountains of gold that do not exist. A course of thought based on externalities, one of clear vision, will open larger doors and offer greater fortunes to those who embrace it.

I say look around you—look at the products of our existence—look at the here and now—the environment surrounding you—embrace its cause. The beauty of the world is not to be ignored, and I shall not deter you from dreaming about it, but in wading your way through daily life, you must not ignore the facts. The nature of reality is that with every cause, there is an effect; without causes, without effort—there are no effects. If you do not labour in life, you do not live. If you do not produce, you cease to exist.

To those that scorn man’s expansion, perhaps imagine it without. Should you choose to do so, you imagine your life away. You purge yourself of meaning and extricate reason from reality. Remove the factories, the mills, the roads, the buildings and what is the result? What is the plight of man? Man fades simply because sustenance—action—is determined by the masses to be evil. When man holds his effort to be his greatest value, the expression of his life, he is despised. When he claims ownership over his life and the products of it, he is spat on. Sacrifice on the contrary, is the greatest of virtues according to these destroyers of the mind. They profess that man is not an end in himself. They demand that mankind is the entity of superior need, not the individual men that make it up. One must not live in the interest of himself, but for society.

To those that follow a path of non-effort, they prime the people for self-destruction by looting from the real dreamers, the real men. These real men are the ones that take pride in their work, but pay the price for doing so; no mutual exchanges or acceptance is sought. The majority, deemed by no rational motive to have some form of control, plunder the fruits of these men in order to support the unearned. Under such authority, you become mere automatons—living a life of despotic servitude.

I am a man of principle and conviction. I do not suggest a reliance on mystics or faith; such is a repulsive nature in the unthinking man—to ignore the world around you in order to service extravagant dreams with little grounding. I am a man who believes in reason—this is my principle. The only one I need to endure reality.

* * *

Come five o’clock I begin my escape from the office. I have an old iPod attached to my head playing beats that excite my mind. The sky is just as I had dreamt earlier, a golden sun showering its rays down upon me. The wind is here too. My walk home isn’t an illusion, I’m experiencing it. The cheap rush of here and now pass over me while I pick up the pace. I run up stairs feeling the air draw rapidly in and out of my lungs, and the blood pumping through my body. Scooting through the streets I see life—everything right here in front of my eyes. The people jogging, the trees rustling, the cars moving, the birds flying, these I notice as I slow to catch my breath. Before I approach my home I see constructed houses of varying designs, the old and the new. I think of the labour that went into them. I smell the planted flowers along the hedgerow, the bright yellows and reds catching my interest. At this point, this time in living—now, I am overcome.

Atlas Shrugged part II

Some more of Atlas Shrugged. The first quote delves into the requirement of meaning, and adherence to one's values. The second is a mild attack from John Galt on the irrational behaviour of men. The third quote is Ayn Rand's basic conception of love in her form of romanticism; that values and self-esteem are virtuous and draw two people together (love not being something we leech from the other partner, or that is given out of pity).

I said that the second quote is a mild attack on irrational behaviour, but it is foolish of me to ignore the fact that her entire book, her philosophy of objectivism, and without a doubt her whole life, is a constant and unrelenting attack on all things irrational; reason, and acceptance of it, is the first stage to understanding life and knowledge.

P.780 Dagny Taggard talking to Francisco d'Anconia

"You want to hold me here, don't you?"
"More than anything else in the world."
"You could hold me."
"I know it."
His voice had said it with the same sound as hers. We waited, to regain his breath. When he spoke, his voice was low and clear, with some stressed quality of awareness, which was almost the quality of a smile of understanding:
"It's your acceptance of this place that I want. What good would it do me, to have your physical presence without any meaning? That's the kind of faked reality by which most people cheat themselves of their lives. I'm not capable of it." He turned to go. "And neither are you. Good night, Miss Taggart."

P.798 John Galt talking to Dagny Taggart

"Did it ever occur to you, Miss Taggart," said Galt, in the casual tone of an abstract discussion, but as if he had known her thoughts, "that there is no conflict of interests among men, neither in business nor in trade nor in their most personal desires--if they omit the irrational from their view of the possible and destruction from their view of the practical? There is no conflict, and no call for sacrifice, and no man is a threat to the aims of another--if men understand that reality is an absolute not to be faked, that lies do not work, that the unearned cannot be had, that the undeserved cannot be given, that the destruction of a value which is, will not bring value to that which isn't. The businessman who wishes to gain a market by throttling a superior competitor, the worker who wants a share of his employer's wealth, the artist who envies a rival's higher talent--they're all wishing facts out of existence, and destruction is the only means of their wish. If they pursue it, they will not achieve a market, a fortune or an immortal fame--they will merely destroy production, employment and art. A wish for the irrational is not to be achieved, whether the sacrificial victims are willing or not. But men will not cease to desire the impossible and will not lose their longing to destroy--so long as self-destruction and self-sacrifice are preached to them as the practical means of achieving the happiness of the recipients."

P.852 Dagny Taggart in a radio broadcast revealing her relationship with the already married Hank Rearden

"For two years, I had been Hank Rearden's mistress. Let there be no misunderstanding about it: I am saying this, not as a shameful confession, but with the highest sense of pride. I had been his mistress. I had slept with him, in his bed, in his arms. There is nothing anyone might now say to you about me, which I will not tell you first. It will be useless to defame me--I know the nature of the accusations and I will state them to you myself. Did I feel a physical desire for him? I did. Was I moved by a passion of my body? I was. Have I experienced the most violent form of sensual pleasure? I have. If this now makes me a disgraced woman in your eyes--let your estimate be your own concern. I will stand on mine."
[...]
"I am proud that he had chosen me to give him pleasure and that it was he who had been my choice. It was not--as it is for most of you-- an act of casual indulgence and mutual contempt. It was the ultimate form of our admiration for each other, with full knowledge of the values by which we made our choice. We are those who do not disconnect the values of their minds from the actions of their bodies, those who do not leave their values to empty dreams, but bring them into existence, those who give material form to thoughts, and reality to values--those who make steel, railroads and happiness. And to such among you who hate the thought of human joy, who wish to see men's life as chronic suffering and failure, who wish men to apologize for happiness--or for success, or ability, or achievement, or wealth--to such among you, I am now saying: I wanted him, I had him, I was happy, I had known joy, a pure, full, guiltless joy, the joy you dread to hear confessed by any human being, the joy of which your only knowledge is in your hatred for those who are worthy of reaching it. Well, hate me, then--because I reached it!"

Atlas Shrugged: my highlights

I've picked up 'Atlas Shrugged' again (by Ayn Rand) after putting it down over a year ago. I was 700 pages in, covering the first two volumes. I have only the last part to finish - around 450 pages to go. As I do, a habit has formed where I highlight the bits that stand out to me. There are so many statements pushing Rand's philosophy, I'd simply suggest for everyone to read it!

For my own benefit, I'm putting some quotes up here so I don't forget the impact this book has on me. Although I'm not done with it, I sense the importance of every chapter, every event and turn within this book. It is a complete and easily understood guide to objectivism and living rationally and for one's self. It is a direct attack on altruism and identifies the state society can slide into if it blindly follows big government and a command economy.

The size of the book may push many away, but I guarantee how life changing this book can be to the willing. Let it guide you, for the wisdom this book may present can set you free.

Anyway, as I read through and pick stuff out, I'll feed them into my blog.

The oath to 'Galt's Gulch'

“I swear - by my life and my love of it - that I shall never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine"

Francisco d’Anconia speaking to Dagny Taggart (P. 740)

“But we—we, who must atone for the guilt of ability—we will work to support him as he orders, with his pleasure as our only reward. Since we have the most to contribute, we will have the least to say. Since we have the better capacity to think, we will not be permitted a thought of our own. Since we have the judgment to act, we will not be permitted an action of our choice. We will work under directives and controls, issued by those who are incapable of working. They will dispose of our energy, because they have none to offer, and of our product, because they can’t produce. Do you say that this is impossible, that it cannot be made to work? They know it, but it is you who don’t—and they are counting on you not to know it. They are counting on you to go on, to work to the limit of the inhuman and to feed them while you last—and when you collapse, there will be another victim starting out and feeding them, while struggling to survive—and the span of each succeeding victim will be shorter, and while you’ll die to leave them a railroad, your last descendant-in-spirit will die to leave them a loaf of bread. This does not worry the looters of the moment. Their plan—like all the plans of all the royal looters of the past—is only that the loot shall last their lifetime. It has always lasted before, because in one generation they could not run out of victims. But this time—it will not last. The victims are on strike. We are on strike against martyrdom—and against the moral code that demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man must exist for the sake of another. We are on strike against the morality of cannibals, be it practiced in body or in spirit. We will not deal with men on any terms but ours—and our terms are a moral code which holds that man is an end in himself and not the means to any end of others. We do not seek to force our code upon them. They are free to believe what they please. But, for once, they will have to believe it and to exist—without our help. And, once and for all, they will learn the meaning of their creed. That creed has lasted for centuries solely by the sanction of the victims—by means of the victims’ acceptance of punishment for breaking a code impossible to practice. But that code was intended to be broken. It is a code that thrives not on those who observe it, but on those who don’t, a morality kept in existence not by virtue of its sins, but by the grace of its sinners. We have decided not to be sinners any longer. We have ceased breaking that moral code. We shall blast it out of existence forever by the one method that it can’t withstand: by obeying it.”

Francisco d’Anconia speaking to Dagny Taggart (P. 768)

“Of course. Don’t you understand it now? Dagny, every form of happiness is one, every desire is driven by the same motor – by our love for a single value, for the highest potentiality of our own existence – and every achievement is an expression of it. Look around you. Do you see how much is open to us here, on an unobstructed earth? Do you see how much I am free to do, to experience, to achieve? Do you see that all of it is part of what you are to me – as I am part of it for you? And if I’ll see you smile with admiration at a new copper smelter that I built, it will be another form of what I felt when I lay in bed beside you. Will I want to sleep with you? Desperately. Will I envy the man who does? Sure. But what does that matter? It’s so much – just to have you here, to love you and to be alive.”