Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Racism – Ayn Rand


                In Ayn Rand’s Racism, she claims that racism is derived by oppressive government and that compensation for previous racism is racist in itself. Ayn’s chapter on racism is heavily fueled by her disapproval of an upcoming act being implemented by the American government. Her first claim is that racism comes from collectivism; a group bound by a common past is racism. She believes that anything that makes judgment based off their ancestry will create discrimination. She then notes that any government that binds people together such as oppressive political systems will harbor if not create a racist country. Nazi Germany and communist Russia were both highly repressive to their people and also were the most racist countries in history. Ayn’s second claim is that people asking for reconciliation for pervious racist actions are in themselves racist. This entire chapter is to bring on fact to light: compensation for what one people did to another is just as bad as what the people did. Her main point is to show that grouping people together for any means is racism and asking for affirmative action and other acts that compensate for pervious injustices are racism.
                Ayn brings to light the fact we are taught as a child, as to take the high road. This piece reminded me of the simple say that to Rand’s disapproval binds all of our childhoods together, that in a petty argument to be the bigger person and just deal with it. Being an individual does not mean asking for repayment it is about owning your individual faults and not the mistakes of others like you. Ayn begins this chapter on more rational grounds to help pull in the writer before she proposes some more radical and to some offensive ideals. I do agree with her logic but regrettably racism is purely fueled by emotion which makes the entire subject hard to deal with on a rational level. I think the strongest point of Ayn’s writing is that the individual should be held accountable for their individual actions and not those of people like them. No one can deny this point but it is this point that demoralizes what we hold as key American values such as “equal” rights.

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