I Love My Country

In a few short hours it will be Independence Day, the 4th of July; in my opinion the single greatest holiday in the world, and the greatest in world history.

I have the fortune of being the son of a man who was born on the 4th of July. I learned a lot from my father and love him dearly, but this "oddity" of him having been born on the 4th helped my family focus a bit more on the holiday than a typical American family does -- I also love that my sister's wedding was held on the 4th; the woman loves fireworks so much!

As I got older and could begin to understand the significance of the day, and not just the childhood wonder lust with fireworks, picnics, and America's amazing patriotic music, I saw the reason America still celebrated its birth, its founding, while most other countries don't even have a definite day or even year of founding.

America has not only a birth: July 4, 1776, but a very well thought out day of founding: September 17, 1787. This is the day that America's Constitution was ratified.

So many wonderful things have been written on this holiday, and I could literally spend the rest of my life writing on what makes America special and still not do it justice. The point of this post is to share my end of a comment exchange on facebook today.

A school chum of mine posted what I imagine he thought was nothing more than a rather common place dig at Obama's budget and spending policy. But whether it is the fact that we are two days away from the 4th of July, or because he has a number of leftist friends that are feeling a bit defensive that Obama is not the savior that they hoped he would be, my friend's simple status update turned into one of the largest facebook comment exchanges I've seen. Before I chimed in with my four comments, there was already north of fifty.

I have not done a tally but there seemed to a relatively even exchange lefties and Marxists, and people who actually love their country (no matter what their specific politics). What got my goat was one of the busiest responders was a mutual friend from high school. This friend is now a professor at a highly respected university, and refers to himself rather accurately as an Anarchist/Marxist.

The short of it is that things were being said, two days before my favorite holiday...things like America is an empire, no better than Ancient Rome, that the health care system in Sweden, Germany, and Norway should be used as examples for America, that building bridges and roads is at least as important as killing terrorists and defending America, etc, etc.

I honestly felt something inside of me snap...I do my best to limit my involvement in public discussions of this kind, because I am not a professional writer, and I have felt that I have not had the time to give the subject the due I think it deserves. To me, defending America, capitalism, and individualism in a public forum is one of the most sacred of honors, and one does not do such things lightly.

But on July 2nd, 20009, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and this is a highly edited version of my four comments:

I am happy to see a number of people her standing up for America. And it is most wonderful to see it happening two days before the greatest holiday in the world!

However, I'd like to respond to the claim that socialism is defined as "social control of the means of production". And that America still is, and has always been, a capitalist society. This is the Marxist view of politics; it is not mine, and more importantly it is not the only one.

To me, and I think the founders of this country would agree in essentials, that the American System and the political system called capitalism is best defined as "a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned." It is not Obama's wishy-washy view of property ownership that I take objection with, it is the complete disregard that the Left has for individual rights.

Property ownership is really important, but just as important and more fundamental is America's respect and protection of individual rights. Not the rights of blacks, the rights of women, the rights of homosexuals, nor the rights of the poor...but the rights of every single individual as an individual human being. The rights of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness; the rights of free speech, self-defense, property, jury trials, and my all time favorite: "Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights", i.e., the 9th amendment.

The American System was created to protect the rights of individuals not only from themselves, criminals, and foreign enemies, but that America first and foremost protected individuals form their own government. Obama and The Left want to dismiss all of this out of hand and say how America is no better, no different, than Ancient Rome, Colonial England, Communist Russia, or Marxist China.

America was and should be proudly remembered for being the best because it left individuals free to do whatever they wanted, it allowed for some to do nothing and some to become "Thomas Edison"...each free to do what they wanted with their life. But the guy who does nothing in America is made happier and richer than some of the richest individuals in Africa, Saudia Arabia, or Korea, by the "Edison's" America's system allows to succeed.

I personally would rather stand on my own two feet and be the poorest man in America than to live in a country that would shackle Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, J.J. Hill and tens of thousands of others to the limits of _my_ ability. I'd rather be poor in America, than rich in Cuba! I rather be "homeless" in America, than starving in Africa. I'd rather have no insurance in America than have all the government credits that a Swedish bureaucrat would decide I was worth.

Ayn Rand's definition of socialism, the one I hold, the one that should be used when thinking about President Barack Obama: "Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good."

And by this definition the entirety of the left and most of the right are socialists. I do not know what is going to happen to the country I love, the country I would fight to death for if I thought it had a chance of existing again. But what we have today is not "America", what we have today is not capitalism, but instead some awful hash that is getting worse by the week.

I am not claiming the above as a complete argument, great writing, or even my best. The above is simply the most impassioned public statement I've made in quite some time. It is heartfelt, and rereading it made me well up. And for my celebration of the Fourth of July I thought it fitting to post this on my blog.

Philosophy, Principles and Capitalism at GOP State Convention

Yaron's Brook's keynote speech at the Republican Party of Virginia 2009 State Convention

A fantasitc reference to Barry Goldwater's 1964 Reublican Party Presidential Candidate Acceptance speech. Another great extremist!

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!

The Radiance of Youth, Nurtured and Maintained Throughout One's Life

I have so many favorite Ayn Rand passages, quotes and ideas...but this may just be my all time favorite.

"There is a fundamental conviction which some people never acquire, some hold only in their youth, and a few hold to the end of their days--the conviction that ideas matter...That ideas matter means that knowledge matters, that truth matters, that one's mind matters. And the radiance of that certainty, in the process of growing up, is the best aspect of youth."

Glee: Pure Benevolence

Watching the pilot for 'Glee' made me feel like I lived in an alternate universe. A universe in which the candidates in our recent presidential election were not Obama and McCain, but two candidates who actually liked America.

This show reminds me of the best "sense of life" tv shows from the 80's and early 90's only written by good writers.

I do not know what will happen to this show when it airs in the fall; whatever happens the pilot was incredible.

Hope you enjoy!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/73740/glee-pilot

Torture: A Moral Obligation Under Certain Circumstances

Very, very well stated!

Pride

"Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man’s values, it has to be earned—that of any achievements open to you, the one that makes all others possible is the creation of your own character" -- Ayn Rand

Hilarious

Julia Sweeney: "Letting Go of God"

Angels and Demons

I just returned from seeing 'Angels and Demons', and as with the lastest Star Trek flick, I will opt for pointing you to Scott Holleran's review of the film, thus saving my time and energy for more interesting endeavors:

'Angels and Demons'

I will add that just the like 'Da Vinci Code', I enjoyed the style, the cinematography, and the acting, but neither movie was great art. Both lacked an ending fitting their scope and subject matter; this is primarily the fault of author. Both of Dan Brown's novels were page turners...until the end. Whereupon you realize that he was never going to deliver the final blows.

However, I would like to share my favorite line from the movie, which was worth the price of admission. One of the bad guys (an assassin) sets the context by telling Langdon and Vittoria of all the priests of various religions that had hired him to do "God's work" and then delivers the following line:

"Be careful. These are men of God"

The line was great, the context perfect, but as Mr. Holleran wrote, "[b]y the time it’s over, the plot has had it every which way—going back and forth between condemning and condoning the Catholic Church..."

This movie like the books on which they are based are essentially modern; they neither stand for reason and against faith, nor for faith above reason. They are a hash of mixed premises, thus the reason the movie does not move you to jump to your feet either in support or in outrage. I still love the line, though.

**

Because you are reading the Aesthetic Capitalist, I want to add that there was a helluva lot of great art in this movie, thank you Michelangelo, Bernini, and Raphael! If I get time this weekend, I will certainly post a few of my favorite images. Not that I needed it, but I now have just that much more motivation to visit Italy within the next year.

Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’

Instapundit nails it again

Another great PajamasTV show:
Obama Administration Cracking Down On Monopolies ... Should Google Be Shaking in it's Boots?

Star Trek

Last night, with no expectations, I went and saw the new Star Trek movie.

For the most part, I do not feel motivated, either positively or negatively, to write on this movie. I left thinking that it was a good time, and more importantly with art and entertainment, I left feeling the world is a good place and values can be pursued. But this is not saying much except that the latest Star Trek flick is better than a lot of the movies that have been made recently.

Even though, I do not have much I want to say on this movie publicly, I do want to point out Scott Holleran's recent review of the film:

New ‘Star Trek’ Movie is Bland, Not Bold

The only issue I have with Mr. Holleran's review is his one-line throw away about the new Kirk being a playboy. I totally disagree with this. The story in this latest Star Trek movie is as Holleran wrote, "the plot is formulaic, characters are too broad, and the conflict is the stuff of cable reruns", but I loved and responded to the new Kirk. I think Chris Pine did an excellent job as James T. Kirk. Similar in a lot of ways to what Robert Downey Jr, did with his Tony Stark. Pine did not do a caricature of the larger than life character, he played it as if it was important, as if it was a reachable ideal. These ideals of Kirk, and of Stark, contain a lot of passion, a lot of exuberance, and a lot of joy which to some can come across as a negative -- as a character who is not serious, who is not deep, who is nothing more than a party hound.

But both Stark and Kirk show continuously through their actions that they are productive, love what they do, and that their partying is not an escape from effort, but a celebration of their own values and view of existence.