A recent article about Senator Rand Paul in abcnews.com unintentionally reveals a lot about why the GOP has failed to make the proper case against the welfare state and in favor of constitutionally limited government.
In the article, we see some admirable stances from Sen. Paul, such as wanting to cut $500 Billion in spending (as opposed to the mere $50 Billion that the GOP has proposed), wanting to shut down the Department of Energy, the Department of Education and ending all foreign aid. But the same man advocating all these also goes on to say:
“As a Christian, we are our brothers’ keepers and we do have a moral obligation to take care of them.”[1]
Sen. Paul is championing economic freedom while at the same time championing the morality that prevents it from existing. If one holds the philosophy that “we are our brothers’ keeper,” which means our life must be devoted to serving others, than the natural political expression of this would be the welfare state. The welfare state ties us all to each other, forcing each man to be each other’s “keeper.” That maxim represents the morality that gave birth to the welfare state.
The only morality that can truly challenge the status quo of the welfare state is the morality of a philosopher mistakenly thought to be where Rand Paul got his name,[2] the philosopher Ayn Rand. Her morality shuns the chains of “we are our brothers’ keeper” and instead upholds man’s right to live for himself, with the purpose of achieving his own happiness.
The ever-increasing popularity of Ayn Rand among Tea Party groups is a positive sign. This is the same Tea Party that catapulted Sen. Rand Paul into the senate. Sen. Paul, like all other Tea Party backed politicians should listen closely to the movement that catapulted them into power, and drop their altruist-collectivist philosophies in favor of true individualism, which can be found in Ayn Rand’s ideas. She rejects that maxim of servitude, which Sen. Paul proclaims, and says:
“For centuries, the battle of morality was fought between those who claimed that your life belongs to God and those who claimed that it belongs to your neighbors – between those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of ghosts in heaven and those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of incompetents on earth. And no one came to say that your life belongs to you and that the good is to live it.”[3]
Only with this uncompromising individualist philosophy based on reason and reality can Americans win the fight against the rise of the welfare state.
Endnotes:
[1] “Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul: ‘I’m Not Afraid to Not Be Elected’” abcnews.com, Feb 23, 2011. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senator-rand-paul-afraid-elected/story?id=12981941&page=1
[2] “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rand Paul” usnews.com, June 3, 2010. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/06/03/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-rand-paul
[3] Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
