I’m trying to understand why Jeff Jared is allowed to espouse his Ayn Rand objectivist world view on a regular basis within the pages of the Reporter, as there’s no counterpoint to his radical views.
First, after reading Mr. Jared’s latest screed my head is spinning and I’m not quite sure where to begin, though I’ll give it my best try. Mr. Jared conveniently points to the U.S. Constitution as his guide only when it serves his radical point of view, as if the document was written in stone by God … or I should say his God, Miss Rand. Maybe Mr. Jared believes as the so-called “Founding Fathers” also believed that black men and women slaves weren’t to be afforded the same rights as white men, and women of all colors weren’t allowed the right to vote until the 20th Century. To steal a phrase from Mr. Jared, “Is that ridiculous or what?”
It seems Mr. Jared forgot there is an ingenious mechanism the founders built within the Constitution giving our representational government the right to amend the document over time. Only Mr. Jared was claiming it’s ridiculous to believe human beings have a right to: health care, a job, housing, and particularly vexing to Mr. Jared, is the right to a vacation. All of this falls under the umbrella of radical “euro-socialism” and “liberalism” and we can’t have any of that “caring for others” stuff in the great United States of Rand or Beck … I mean America.
Within Mr. Jared’s paradigm, men and women of all colors and races, including for reasons of sexuality, could and should under the Constitution allow business owners or anyone else the right to discriminate. Mr. Jared doesn’t come out and flatly say this within his opinion, however if you follow his “Randian objectivism” to its illogical conclusion as I have with folks of Mr. Jared’s ilk, this is what they believe. Somehow Mr. Jared goes on to slickly link socialism/liberalism to the torture debate. On this point I’m a bit confused, because really there’s no place Mr. Jared can “cite” within the Constitution or Bill of Rights claiming the U.S. has no right to torture, just ask John Yoo or Dick Cheney. Having said that, I don’t believe the U.S. or any other country has the right to torture either, however the Constitution doesn’t explicitly cite this as a “right” either.
Mr. Jared represents the same Tea Bag group in Ohio who were caught by television cameras yelling at a man who had Parkinson’s disease who was sitting in for his need for health care coverage. If for some reason any of you missed the video, simply Google “tea baggers and man with Parkinson’s” to fully view in all it ingloriousness the belief system of Mr. Jared.
Mr. Jared’s constant references to “euro-socialist” rights and “liberals” would have one believe it’s only the crazy liberals who believe the U.S. health care system has some serious problems, or maybe Mr. Jared has a bad case of Fox Newsitis, where it’s all for one and none for all. Simply because the far-right fringe tea baggers are currently in the press, doesn’t mean American citizens don’t already believe in forms of “socialism” like Medicare, Social Security, and Unemployment benefits to name just a few. However, Mr. Jared believes everyone should instead be left to fend for themselves when they are ill, unemployed, need a vacation, or lack housing.
As for where I personally stand, I’m of the belief there is a need for a social safety net, though until we get the money out of politics to a significant extent, we will not have the ability to come to some form of consensus on these matters and stop screaming over one another. As for Mr. Jared, he represents a radical fringe and I felt a need to highlight this fact.
Steve Wise, Kirkland
