Some thoughts on Ayn Rand

The recent nomination of Paul Ryan as the Republican candidate for Vice President has reminded me of one of my youthful literary escapades.  In my twenties I bought a copy of Ayn Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness."

I read it a few times, underlining many passages.  I was quite struck by many of her arguments and have retained some respect even today.  Essentially she argues that if everyone pursues their selfish interests it is best for society.  For instance, my example, if enough people with enough money want to drive a car then there will be jobs for people making cars.  The system falls down when someone decides that we have too many cars and people should buy bicycles instead.  This causes unhappiness:  those making a living making cars lose their jobs and those who want to drive cars are frustrated.   I am reminded of a quote of Zig Ziglar:  " You can get whatever you want if you help enough people get what they want."

One point I still agree with whole heartedly is that to really follow your selfish interests it is best to take a long term view rather than a short term view.  To me this is one of the biggest issues of society today, impatience to get what we want.

The decision boils down to individualism vs. collectivism as how I read it recently.  Like many dichotomies there is merit to both sides, but there is also danger should either one dominate.

Balancing her contentions in some ways is Stephen R Covey.  In essence his book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is a guide to how an individual can be more effective, that is get more of what they want.  But the thinking is more all encompassing.  One of the habits is to understand deeply what the other person thinks and feels.  Another habit is to look for a win-win solution, very strongly stating that if only one side wins it is not the best solution.  Covey believes that society is inter-dependent and if you want to be effective (ie. succeed) you need to work within that framework.

Civilization did not get to where it is by constantly re-starting from scratch.  Isaac Newton said he stood on the shoulders of giants who came before him.  Over eons of time a lot of good ideas were gradually discovered by individuals and even more slowly accepted by others.  All individuals are totally dependent on the good will of others when born, but as they matured were able to contribute to the good of others.  As we mature our feeling of independence grows, but some of us never really realize we are always dependent on others.

Peer pressure is not always for the benefit of individuals or even of the group.  Most people, most of the time like to keep things the way they are and resist any change (including who makes different decisions for different concerns).  Change is how we progress.  Just as we want and need freedom to express ourselves and to contribute so do others.  We need to give them the room and the opportunity.

Implicit in these discussions are judgments on other people.  Ayn Rand contends they deserve what they get because they made a lot of decisions that put them there.  It is true that we are where we are not only because of decisions we made, but also because of decisions made by others.  If we are honest most of us have made bad decisions.  Sometimes we learned from them, sometimes we got locked in.  Sometimes we realized other people had been confronted by the same problem and learning how they handled it could be helpful.  Often someone else' decision created obstacles. It is true that some people are better than others at over coming obstacles, but it is also true that some people have more difficult obstacles to overcome.

Can we say all decisions are rational?  I would say too many decisions are emotional and that includes intellectuals.

As a society we will all suffer the consequences of poor decisions.  We all lose when the best person doesn't get the job, when talent gets wasted, when anyone suffers unjustly, when deserving people don't get a chance, when greed wins over justice.  Every individual in many ways got their power with the help of many other individuals and of circumstances.  How they exercise their power affects everyone.

Another set of thoughts that enter my thinking is from Bertrand Russell who wrote an essay, "In Praise of Idleness."  There are many people it seems to me who are quick to criticize those who apparently are not doing anything "useful" or who are not pursuing a normal path. They are just enjoying something.  We look down on such people, but we should respect what they want out of life as long as it doesn't hurt others.  If you cannot enjoy life what is the point?

Human nature should be the basis of how we organize ourselves.  We have many commendable traits, but unfortunately most look out for ourselves most of the time.  Some of us are talented at getting more than our share in relation to what we contribute.  A few are very adept at bending the rules for their own advantage.  When we get a little power we almost immediately try to figure out how we can increase our power and it is usually at the expense of someone else.  If this is just extrapolating my own nature I apologize, but believe there is some rational basis for my thoughts..

We need to find more effective ways to co-operate or we will all suffer, but at the same time we need to encourage individuals to fully use their talents and find their own solutions.  Problems like avoiding war, especially nuclear war, climate change, energy and food shortages, contagious disease, terrorism., etc require wide spread co-operation.   We cannot leave these decisions to powerful people with narrow interests.  There is merit in people speaking up for individualism, but there needs to be those advocating intelligent co-operation to help unleash individual talent.

A CHANGE IN MY SOCIAL MEDIA THINKING

I've gotten my feet wet and like many people just started with social media am wondering if I am making any progress or just wasting my time. Time to do a little assessment and perhaps refine my strategy.

Since this past Christmas I have become more involved with Facebook after a few months of Twitter and a little blogging.  I recently read a book about introverts after reading some books that advocated generating ideas through groups.  "Quiet" by Susan Cain suggested that many people feel more comfortable and are more successful thinking solitarily.  But she more than conceded that the inter-net really opens the synergy of ideas.

I have been told (and read) that social media is about a conversation not a sermon. Many of us start out as "stalkers" meaning we like to read interesting things other people present without revealing anything of ourselves.  Some of us move onto being missionaries spouting off our outlook on life. Almost by accident I have discovered that when you make an attempt to actually help someone or even just to understand them better they are more apt to respond.

Everyone is unique.  A good strategy is to find your niche.  Makes sense.  Like everyone who reads this (and the far greater crowd that is totally unaware of it) I am unique. There are things in life that I have learned I want more of. There are a few things I have learned that seem to put me on a path to getting more of what I want. The two thoughts are very closely connected and can be very compatible.

Being unique means not every body will be interested in what interests me nor that I will be interested in everything that interests them. More basically if we really want to understand and appreciate other people you have to understand and appreciate what interests them.   The more intimate you want to get with another person the more you need to understand their interests.

To get more of what I want, I need to help more people get more of what they want (paraphrasing Zig Ziglar).  Realistically there are only some things or combinations of things that are worth any reader's time. they can get much of what I say elsewhere.  Grabbing the interest of any reader is a challenge.

My plan is to appeal to as wide an audience as I can. No one will be interested in the whole package, but many will be interested in different aspects of my message.

My message is basically here are some things I enjoy that you might also and here are some thoughts that might help you get what you want. A few things you might be tempted to buy or find out more about (and help me pay some bills and have more time to indulge in what I enjoy). Just knowing what you want is a big part of the battle.  Some thoughts might seem like new ideas (or at least re-packaged), but many thoughts are just reinforcements of what you already know.

Can we help each other to enjoy more of life?  Maybe appreciate some beauty that escaped us before or use our resources more optimally to get what we really want.  One thing for sure, nobody made it entirely on their own although many act and pontificate as though they had.

Every thought you ever had might be of interest to or even benefit someone. At the same time most of them will bore the vast majority who either have already thought something very similar or really are focused in a very different direction.  Write to the masses, cater to individuals.  Represent yourself--everyone has something to offer.

Sometimes venturing a thought exposes you to other people.  Don't be afraid of other people's opinions.  they can be helpful or destructive or ignored.

Writing your ideas down forces you to think and reinforces them.  Although I am as vain as anyone, I also benefit from being forced to organize my thoughts.

Or is this all about vanity?  Is that a totally bad thing?

The photo is of Veradero Beach taken through some trees.  

PROCRASTINATION

I have been putting this topic off, because I suffer from it, like many of you.  It is intended as a bit of sales advice, but really it affects every thing worth doing.

It can be maddening to decide what to do next. There are so many choices and we have a tendency to go on our automatic pilot or in other words be a slave to our habits. We are hit from all directions with ideas of what to do--mostly "buy me" or "you deserve a little fun." or "get back to work." For you to get on your best path, you need to take time and focus on what choices you have.

For purposes of this topic I will assume that you, like most of us know there are things that could give you more purpose in life, give you the means to enjoy your favorite things, please those who are important to you, that you keep putting off. Why do you do that? What are our excuses?

Fear is a big one. I fear rejection particularly from those who have power or who maybe have not responded positively to my previous efforts. Complications--actually making a decision can be very complicated and making the wrong decision at the wrong time is fearful.   Laziness--yes the status quo can be pretty comfortable and maybe with slight adjustments can appear even more comfortable.

To get ahead in life successful people have found they need to stretch their comfort zone. Sometimes we have to hit bottom before we are willing to do what needs to be done. Do you really want to hit rock bottom?

As a sales man I recognize that in truth there are endless opportunities to make a sales approach and certainly to get better prepared for a sales approach. As a husband and a father I know there are many projects that can make everyone happier. As a human being I know there are things I can do to make life better for everyone.

From the world of sales, I remember a closing strategy from Zig Ziglar. He was trying to deal with someone who liked whatever he was trying to sell, but was afraid of finalizing a decision. He boiled it down to three questions, Can you see where this would save you money? Are you interested in saving money? If you were ever going to start saving money when do you think would be the best time to start? You can substitute whatever benefit you prefer for "saving money."

The strategy can easily be turned to yourself and any decision you have come to a conclusion about. The best time is NOW! At least start taking the necessary baby steps.

For myself, like all of you I have thousands of decisions to make each day and like you there are some decisions that I have thought about and have concluded action is needed. If things don't work out exactly the way I hope (not exactly sure what that entails) action at least removes doubt and provides some feedback for the next decision.

I have decided that at this stage of my career and my life I need to get more comfortable with social media and use it more effectively to move me closer to what I really want. The next concrete step is to get more educated about it, but actually doing something to help me get some feedback is even more critical. Blogging and twittering supported by more intense sales efforts and following up is what I need to do. NOW!

I would like to thank Heather, Sharon, Len and Barry for helping me reach this stage.

Note about photo. It was a rare and unexpected sight from a vacation. I was actually waiting for the bus to take me back to the airport at the end of my Cuban vacation.  A person suggested I should look at a unique flower and I tried to put him off.  Glad I didn't.  I want the opportunity to see such things in the future and not just wait for things to come to me.