A few years ago, I was walking along Georgia street in Vancouver, when a young bum on a gleaming bicycle slid up alongside me and starting begging me earnestly for money to buy himself breakfast at MacDonald’s. In spite of the fact that I ignored him, he persisted, until I stopped his bike and told him, “You’re worse than the prostitutes on Hastings street.”
He was righteously indignant at this insult. How could I compare him, a wise and respected street beggar, to a lowly prostitute?
My answer was:
“You offer me nothing, not to clean my shoes, get a ride on your bike, wash my car, or even carry this briefcase – you want my hard-earned money simply for being around. The prostitute at least offers me her body in exchange for money. She is a capitalist, and you are a parasite, and a socialist. I have respect for those who wish to offer something in return for my money. I have no respect for you.”
Ayn Rand’s words ring in my ears as I recollect this sidewalk chat:
”The actual performance of men in society is a constant, fierce, undefined struggle between the genius and the parasite…
The genius must have his freedom and his independence…
But he is crippled, hobbled, tied, held back constantly by the encroachments and restrictions of the parasites who get their unearned sustenance from him.”
Who is Ayn Rand?
In Alan Greenspan’s new book, “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World”, he mentions Ayn Rand six times, and declares that she is one of his greatest two teachers, and that she had the greatest impact on his philosophy. More here.
Respect Money and Value or Suffer the Consequences
As Canada and the United States both teeter on the brink of embracing socialist governments, I thought relating this little exchange on a wet, West Coast city street might be pertinent.
When you pander to the collectivists, there is a dire consequence. When you sell your soul for a bowl of soup, expect to reap what you sow. Understanding money and value will prevent a society, indeed a country, from selling itself into slavery.
I’ll end off with Ayn Rand:
“The creator stands on his own judgment. The parasite follows the opinions of others.
The creator thinks, the parasite copies.
The creator produces, the parasite loots.
The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature. The parasite’s concern is the conquest of Man.
The creator requires independence – he neither serves nor rules. He deals with men by free exchange and voluntary choice. The parasite seeks power. He wants to bind all men together in common action and common slavery”.
