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Posted by Joe Tormos on September 29, 1998 at 12:06:44:
I was a huge, huge Any Rand fan for many years.
But ... as Dr. Peck notes in his third book (the first being "The Road Less Traveled: a New Psychology of Love, Spiritual Growth and Traditional Values," [1978] now the #1 non-fiction best-seller in history; and the second, "People of the Lie: the Hope for Healing Human Evil" [1983] -- easily two of the greatest books ever written, if not the "top 2" -- touching upon many of the core concepts that concern this site: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, RELIGION, THINKING, "THE BIG PICTURE," ETC.), "The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace," [1985] ... something about Ayn Rand's philosophy of "rugged individualism" bothered me ....
After having read "Atlas Shrugged," [1957] Peck noted that in this sweeping panorama of the full lives of many people -- THERE WERE ESSENTIALLY NO CHILDREN IN THE WORLD. (Rand's readers will remember Dagny's persistent assertion as a child: "CHILDHOOD IS NOTHING BUT A COMPLETE AND TOTALLY STUPID WASTE OF MY TIME, AND NOTHING IN MY LIFE WILL MATTER IN THE SLIGHTEST UNTIL I GET TO THE ADULT WORLD." (My paraphrase.)
Peck notes that children, and "others LIKE children" -- the infirmed, the handicapped, the illiterate, the deaf, the mute, etc. -- CANNOT "SUBSCRIBE" TO THE "FALLACY OF RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM" -- THEY MUST DEPEND ON THE GOOD GRACES OF OTHERS.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. Compassion here on Earth isn't just "nice" -- ITS ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY IF WE ARE TO LIVE AS CIVILIZED HUMAN BEINGS.
This explains the "vague uneasiness" non-Ayn Rand fans have always asserted they "couldn't quite put their finger on" -- and, notes Dr. Peck, ILLUSTRATES AN EXCELLENT PRINCIPLE OF "GOOD THINKING": ALWAYS ASK YOURSELF: WHAT'S MISSING? WHAT AM I NOT BEING TOLD? WHAT IS BEING OMITTED FROM THE PICTURE?
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