| « Why Communism/Socialism Fails | The Diamond Hustle: The Emperor's New Clothes Continued » |
Rage Against the Machine once said this. They said it naming the same tormentor, but with a lack of understanding of the game. I say it now to both you and them.
The good, say the mystics of the spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive--a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence. The good, say the mystics of muscle, is Society--a thing which they define as an organism that possesses no physical form, a super being embodied in no one in particular and everyone in general except yourself. Man's mind, say the mystics of spirit, must be subordinated to the will of God. Man's mind, say the mystics of muscle, must be subordinated to the will of society. Man's standard of value, say the mystics of spirit, is the pleasure of God, whose standards are beyond man's power of comprehension and must be accepted on faith. Man's standard of value, say the mystics of muscle, is the pleasure of Society, who's standards are beyond man's right of judgement and must be obeyed as a primary absolute. The purpose of man's life, say both, is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question. His reward, say the mystics of spirit, will be given to him beyond the grave. His reward, say the mystics of muscle, will be given on earth--to his great-grandchildren.
-- John Galt, "Atlas Shrugged"
Wake up.