Framing Contradiction

Most Americans believe the altruist code is the moral code. Most Americans are religionists, and all religions promote the altruist code. But, even people who are not particularly religious—Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Hollywood “liberals,” for example—believe that the moral teachings of Jesus are correct, that the example set by Jesus is the ideal. Fortunately, like most Americans, Jefferson and Madison lived Monday through Friday practicing egoism, paying lip service to altruism in public speeches and on weekends. In their private correspondence both men expressed serious doubts about the divinity of Jesus and an unwavering stand against theocracy.

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God” (Jefferson, a letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787).

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which…thus[built] a wall of separation between church and state” (Jefferson, a letter to the Danbury [ Connecticut ] Baptist Association, January 1, 1802).

“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own” (Jefferson, a letter to Horatio G. Spafford, March 17, 1814).

“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise” (Madison, a letter to William Bradford, April 1, 1774).

Hollywood liberals practice altruism now…now that they have achieved their fame and have tens of millions in the bank. They did not climb to the top of their profession by placing the needs of others before their own or by being humble.

Like most Americans, Jefferson and Madison failed to accurately define that which made them moral men: their competence, their ambition, their productivity, their integrity, their self-esteem. America was built by egoists claiming to be altruists.

In other words, America is a great and powerful nation because we’re not very good Christians.

Americans call egoism “common sense,” and act accordingly pursuing their own goals and ambitions, never acknowledging the system of ethics that drives their success. Instead, they cling to the lessons their parents [and their parents, and their parents] taught them, and falsely characterize any success they may enjoy as the result of some divine favor, or more often, as the result of some sacrifice they may have made. A student, for example, believes he is making a sacrifice when he forgoes a night out with friends in order to study for an exam. Did he make a sacrifice? No. He made a rational, selfish decision. He reasoned that doing well on his exam was more important to him than partying with friends because his goal is to graduate with honors. In fact, only if the student had chosen to go out partying with friends and had failed the test would he have behaved selflessly, altruistically. He would have sacrificed a higher value, his goal to graduate with honors, for a lesser value, partying with friends.

Every moral choice can be analyzed similarly. I hope to demonstrate that in every instance the moral choice is the rational, selfish choice.

Selfishness is a dirty word according to the altruist code. That’s why successful people in America are always falling all over themselves apologizing for, or thanking God for, their success. But, what does selfishness mean? It means, pursuing your own happiness. That’s right! It’s an unalienable right. Selfishness means “taking care of one’s self.” The cynical, altruist definition of selfishness assumes that such success can not be earned, but rather, that it must have been coveted, stolen, gained at the expense of others. [“It’s easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for the rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” said somewhere in the Bible.]

As long as you accept any part of the altruist code, no quantity of material success you earn can be properly enjoyed. You condemn yourself to suffer irrational guilt for having achieved your self-esteem and the resulting material comforts. How can you be so selfish? How can you enjoy your wealth while there are so many others slopping through life pathetic and poor?