Dread Pirate
Footballguy
For the dude with the following Galbraith quote in his signature line here at FBG forums;
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
John Kenneth Galbraith
IMO,
National Review’s December 1957 scathing review of Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s novel dramatizing selfishness as the ideal moral code, shows Galbraith was incorrect in his claim. As you may know, National Review is the trail-blazing conservative publication made famous by the father of conservatism, William F. Buckley, and they flat-out panned Atlas Shrugged. Add to that conservatives’ obsession with Christianity, a code that values the opposite of selfishness (self-sacrifice) as their basis for freedom and individual rights, and Galbraith is obviously angling for something else in that quote.
My view is that he aims to demagogue not only selfishness as a moral code but, also conservatives and the Christian right. I don’t care that he takes shots at conservative but, don't malign the best justification for freedom and individual rights. Selfishness, as depicted by Rand in her novels and as discussed in her non-fiction work, is the only ethics that is congruent with the politics of freedom and individual rights. Given this, at the very least I have to conclude Galbraith misunderstood the “American Way”. However, given he's considered a leader of modern liberalism, I suspect he was more antagonistic toward America, capitalism and the politics of freedom and knew exactly what he was attacking with that quote and why.
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
John Kenneth Galbraith
IMO,
National Review’s December 1957 scathing review of Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s novel dramatizing selfishness as the ideal moral code, shows Galbraith was incorrect in his claim. As you may know, National Review is the trail-blazing conservative publication made famous by the father of conservatism, William F. Buckley, and they flat-out panned Atlas Shrugged. Add to that conservatives’ obsession with Christianity, a code that values the opposite of selfishness (self-sacrifice) as their basis for freedom and individual rights, and Galbraith is obviously angling for something else in that quote.
My view is that he aims to demagogue not only selfishness as a moral code but, also conservatives and the Christian right. I don’t care that he takes shots at conservative but, don't malign the best justification for freedom and individual rights. Selfishness, as depicted by Rand in her novels and as discussed in her non-fiction work, is the only ethics that is congruent with the politics of freedom and individual rights. Given this, at the very least I have to conclude Galbraith misunderstood the “American Way”. However, given he's considered a leader of modern liberalism, I suspect he was more antagonistic toward America, capitalism and the politics of freedom and knew exactly what he was attacking with that quote and why.
Last edited by a moderator:
Jesus Tim, not your best work.
