Only we and Rand can stop rot

Submitted by David in Georgia (United States), Feb 2, 2003 at 10:02

Mr. Pipes vividly captures the violence and oppression of the left, but let's be clear about the solution. It is not as simple as university stakeholders' noting the extremism and combating it. It must go a giant step further. It must involve a return to principles, to right and wrong -- to objective individual rights of human beings. The only way this can be done is to involve oneself in the discovery of what makes us human (rationality) and how that fact defines the scope of liberty (freedom from coercion) among other people. Without consciously puzzling through these important issues (via serious philosophical discovery), the university stakeholders are intellectually powerless to advance confidently with proper rules for speeches and conduct. They must have an explicit intellectual heirarchy of understanding of reality and human rights before they can even begin to discuss "toleration," "rights" and "nonviolence."

Mr. Pipes must state these facts explicitly in every column to drive home this point. And he might do well in beginning his intellectual discovery with the groundbreaking objective discoveries of Ayn Rand -- if he hasn't already done so. It is only when a large segment of human society understands the full measure of man's capability and rights that we will see and hear no more of the rot.

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