Criticism of Ayn Rands View on Social Work

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Choosing a life of charity and social work or even just deciding to allocate your time to charity and social work is a very big decision that must be thought through. One cannot simply just jump in the water without knowing how to swim. More so, one should not jump into the water without knowing why. There are many emergent global foundations for charity such as the all popular Red Cross, the UNICEF, Amnesty International, Gawad Kalinga Community, just to name a few. There are also other causes that are not necessarily social in nature but still affect society such as PETA and Green Peace. All of these are surely commendable organizations. But these organizations are not without criticism.

Believe it or not, there are some arguments that are against the whole social movement in general. If one would read the popular works of the writer Ayn Rand, one will be able to find one of the best arguments against social activism. We are going here on a more deeply philosophical argument but basically, what she's saying is that social work is a flawed movement because it is founded on people's need to help others simply because they try to fill the void in their own lives. Ayn Rand differentiates two people, the first-handers and the second-handers. First hand people are fonts. They give their own lives meaning. This is a very existential stand point since these people give meaning to their own lives. Individuals who are rational and who follow their path towards spiritual perfection will inevitably do more good for society than those people who feed off the approval of others by doing "good deeds." The second-hander get ideas from the original thinkers. They promote slave morality in Nietzschean terms instead of master morality.

But does thinking this way really help? This only promotes the self serving virtues of capitalism does it not? What will happen to a world like this?

The problem with Ayn Rand's ethics is the same problem with Nietzsche's ethics. Not everyone can bear a system that does not have any metaphysical foundation other than the individual's will to power.

The fact is that not everyone can handle a moral will to power. And also, even if they did, not everyone would have the same set of morals. Thus there will still be inequality, wars, poverty, etc. If one wants to do something about this mess, if one feels the need to help others, this is perfectly justified if it is what they really want. Who cares if the real motivation of charity and social workers is to be acknowledged for their work? In truth, not all social workers think this way as what Ayn Rand suggests.

We must come into terms that the social system right now breeds inequality. We must not accept that this inequality is natural and unavoidable. Surely there are degrees of inequality that is unavoidable, but the system increases the rift between those who have and those who do not have. The rift is too great, this must be fought. There is enough resources in the world to keep everyone alive and well, so why can't people dream of a system that keeps everyone alive and well, supplied with shelter, health care, leisure, work, and food? All the global foundations for charity such as the Red Cross, the UNICEF, Amnesty International, Gawad Kalinga Community, PETA and Green Peace - all of these organizations should be supported. Rational individualism is a just another fairly tale.

A computer graduate and loves to travel. Reading current news in the internet is one of his past times. Taking pictures of the things around him fully satisfies him. He loves to play badminton and his favorite pets are cats and walk with them in the park with some dogs.
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