Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical by Sciabarra Chris

Author:Sciabarra, Chris [Sciabarra, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Published: 2013-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

MASTER AND SLAVE

As we have seen, The Fountainhead provided Rand with the first opportunity to present a complex psychological portrait of those individuals whom she described as “second-handers.” As she puts it, speaking through Roark: “The second-hander acts, but the source of his actions is scattered in every other living person” (607). The second-hander seeks fame and admiration, a greatness in the eyes of others. The second-hander’s existence is partial, incomplete, and fundamentally dependent on those who possess self-sufficing egos. Whereas creators necessarily think and work alone, second-handers live through other people. They must rob, exploit, and rule others upon whom their sustenance depends. As parasites of both body and mind, they exist “through the persons of others” (606–7, 683). In attempting to rule others, they subjugate their victims by keeping them on a spiritual leash. But “a leash is only a rope with a noose at both ends.” Rand recognized that exploitation ultimately destroyed both the slave and the master, both the victim and the executioner (683, 661).

At this stage in her intellectual development, Rand did not fully recognize the extent to which the creators participated in their own destruction. She argued that the second-hander’s attempt to exploit the creator required a legitimating ideology. As Toohey observes, those who seek to rule the creators don’t “need a whip.” The creators will often provide their own “and ask to be whipped” (636). Such self-subjugation was achieved through psychological manipulation. Roark exclaims: “When the first creator invented the wheel, the first second-hander responded. He invented altruism” (684).

The creed of self-sacrifice provided the second-hander with a veneer of moral action. But Rand warns us, “Don’t bother to examine a folly—ask yourself only what it accomplishes.” While this dictum is uttered by Toohey, one of Rand’s grand-villains, it expresses Rand’s own views about the political utility of certain culturally accepted ethical doctrines. Toohey tells Keating, one of his victims:

“Every system of ethics that preached sacrifice grew into a world power and ruled millions of men. Of course, you must dress it up. You must tell people that they’ll achieve a superior kind of happiness by giving up everything that makes them happy. You don’t have to be too clear about it. Use big vague words. ‘Universal Harmony’—‘Eternal Spirit’—’Divine Purpose’—‘Nirvana’—‘Paradise’—‘Racial Supremacy’—‘The Dictatorship of the Proletariat.’ … It stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there’s someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.”7

What is crucial about this statement is Rand’s grasp of altruism as a tool of exploitation used by political and religious forces alike. She conflated several images that are ordinarily kept separate and distinct: the religious fundamentalist, the Nazi racist, and the Bolshevik agitator. Each of these historical figures was involved in a similar game of spiritual or material exploitation. Each used the language of sacrifice to a “higher” purpose. Altruism destroys creators by duping them into putting their virtues at the service of their destroyers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.