Eiuol #wingnut forum.objectivismonline.com

@Eamon Arasbard

And finally, I have a question about an argument which I've seen from a lot of Objectivists regarding primitive societies -- namely, that you should support any advanced civilization which is in conflict with a more primitive society for possession of territory, for the reason that they are more advanced. How far do you take this argument?

I actually haven't heard anyone state this. Or at least, stated this way, it really isn't Rand's position. For Rand's position, I agree she made unfair generalizations of Native Americans, but her premise as I remember is that a sufficiently primitive societys has no sense of property rights. If they have no sense of propety rights, there are no property rights to violate. Any "invaders" are morally justified to claim territory, especially by being a considerably advanced society. I don't think it is meant to justify killing, just that property wasn't stolen or appropriated. It's not that one society or another has territory, though.

The important question is if they really were so primitive. Maybe some were, but as you say, plenty did have notions of property and/or rights, even if not fully developed.

25 comments

Confused?

So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!

To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register. Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.