JohnGalt

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

-- Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged

After the big bank bailout a few years back, I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. At the time, I struggled to understand the balance between charity and individualism. As I read the story, I saw the greed, the selfishness, and the laziness of the general populace and the government in particular. I cheered as Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden thumbed their noses at the man and fought to maintain their pride and ethics in the face of a society that only valued them for the product of their work. The black and white between looters and producers had no gray; however, life is nothing but gray, with very little that is truly black and white. It is not an easy balance, but I think I found it, at least for me.

Let us start at the beginning: what is charity?

The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive

-- LDS Bible Dictionary

So charity is not really the deed of giving; giving is the side effect of charity. How does this find the balance for me? Well, if I have charity, aka love, my giving is not the motivation; it is an afterthought.

All done? Well, not quite; there is still the core issue at hand. The government-backed societal demand that I must give my production to someone else because they need it or deserve it more than me. That someone else's need is more important than my hard work. This demand irks me every time I see it. This is no longer charity; the giving is not done out of love but required and forced.

I'd have no desire to penalize a man because he's worth only fifteen dollars a week. But I'll be damned if I can see why a man worth forty must be penalized--and penalized in favor of the one who's less competent

-- Ayn Rand The Fountainhead

Not everyone's work has the same value, and not everyone will get from their work what they think it is worth. The great American dream is not that everyone will have equal resources and rewards, but that they will have equal opportunity and possibility. There has been no other time in the history of human beings that there have been so many possibilities and opportunities for everyone, no matter their race, gender, or creed.

I will admit that in my younger years, I was all for taxing the rich to pay for the poor. My hero was Robin Hood. I can understand the allure of being a looter rather than being a producer. Life would sure be a lot easier if someone else was forced to work for me.

I am very thankful, though, that my parents taught me the value of hard work. That I should rely first on myself, then my family, and then, if I must, my community. Not that I should expect someone else to live for me, but sometimes help is needed. It should not be demanded, forced, or expected, but instead accepted in humility and with readiness to turn around and help someone else.

My balance? I do not have to live for, nor tolerate, a looter. I should be a producer and do what I can to help others be producers. I have charity for my fellow man. This leads me to do good and try to help others. The first priority is my family, then my community, and last, humankind in general. I can resist and disagree with society and the government using force to demand charity, for love cannot be forced.