Monthly Connection - September

When we discussed The Fountainhead in class, I think the we went over Ayn Rand's philosophy objectivism too quickly. In particular, about her definition of selfishness. When many people hear that someone is selfish, they think that this is a bad thing. In Rand's philosophy, it is not. To be selfish is something that we should all strive to be.

Howard Roark, Rand's ideal man, is selfish. This is seen through out the novel, specifically when he blows up Cortlandt homes. Roark wants his buildings to be created exactly as he sees them in his mind, he does not want them compromised in any way. Because the building was not exactly the way he wanted it to be, it had to be destroyed. When you look at the character of Roark, this makes complete sense. Architecture is his world, life, and religion. Any normal person would never have the one thing that they truly believe in compromised in any way. Howard's actions show that he is very strong. Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe in. What Roark did was extremely courageous, I do not think that any architect would destroy a modified version of a building they designed. In objectivism, humans are selfish in the sense that we should stand up for what we believe in no matter what the consequences may be. We should never let others compromise what we are.

An example of selfishness is seen in The Power of One. It is, the main character, Peekay's number one goal in life to be the welterweight champion of the world. He is selfish because he will do absolutely anything to become the welterweight champion, (he could possibly cheat because he did want to learn a dirty move from Geel Piet). While he is at boarding school, he does not let the fact that his school has a terrible boxing program compromise his boxing dreams or goals. Another example from the same book is how Peekay aspires to go to Oxford and does not let money get in the way. Of course we never do find out if Peekay does indeed go there, but none the less, he does not let road blocks conquer his goals in life.

I want to live my life in a selfish way because the idea of having someone mold it for me is an idea that I cannot stand. I do not want someone to tell me that I have to live or think a certain way. Howard Roark is a character that we could aspire to be like because there is nothing that can make him change and he would not compromise anything that he truly believed in. To live the way Howard does would be incredible, nothing could bend or break you. He is selfish because he will not change, but he is doing it in an admirable way.

While I was in Washington DC, one of my roommates was the most pliable person that I have ever met. It was literally to the point of being pathetic. She would, for lack of a better phrase, seriously kiss everyone's behind. Another one of my roommates was probably the most selfish person there, if she wanted something, there was absolutely nothing that could stop her. If she said that you were wrong, there was never anything that you could say to make her change her mind. Needless to say, there were many nights when my pliable roommate would be in tears. Being in a room of four people, I found it humorous to learn that both of them considered me their favorite roommate. My favorite roommate was the selfish girl, there were several times when I could not stand her, but they were far outnumbered by the times when she was the only person that I actually could stand. It is much better to be selfish rather than selfless (as seen through two of my former roommates) . Selfish people are much more headstrong and will get further in life because they know what they want.