Why Not For Himself?

Many heard John McCain’s acceptance speech Thursday, Sept 5, 2008 in St. Paul. There must have been some last-minute rewriting, for he had been upstaged by his vice-presidential choice, Sarah Palin. Palin gave a rousing, clearly moral high ground speech the night before, which electrified the audience. I could vote for her, but not for John.

So what does he do? He postures as the ultimate altruist! Since age 17 he has done nothing but public service. This is taken by most to mean taking the high road compared to the rest of us who only work for our own living. To assert that he did none of this for himself but only for country deeply offends me. And what the hell is wrong with private service?

To claim that no time of his working life was spent for his own sake is utterly irrational, it is evil, it is altruistic.

To me the ideal of America is the entrepreneur who creates jobs, the drug researcher who comes up with the new penecillin, the person who works and saves to invest in new ventures, the man or woman who goes to war for the money and believes they are good enough to survive it and fights without pulling punches.

My heroes do not include anyone who sacrifices his or her life for individuals or country. Sacrifice means giving up a greater good for a lesser one. That is irrational.

Altruism is to value someone else as more worthy to live than oneself.

Rational self-interest (the philosophy of Ayn Rand) correctly values oneself and secondly others who are of value.

McCain is selling us a package deal, combining military heroism with the scummy drag of a beast in the gutter demanding admiration for nothing but their need and utter lack of worth.

What has McCain done for me? Has he made government smaller, less costly and less intrusive? Has he created new products? Has he figured out a way of making anything better? Making anything cheaper? Kept foreign enemies from my door? Has he done his best taking care of his own life and his loved ones?

No, he has done none of that. But neither do I believe he has only lived his life for his country. He plans to live a long life. He has, under the premises of our current system, a good plan. If he wins the election he may only be president for four years but will come away with honorable mention in history books and a quite rich retirement, plus gratuities for years of speech-making.

He will also be loved by the political machine that he serves. He worked all his life for a cause.

Why Not For Himself?