re: #5 iceweasel

That is true, but it’s a poisonous sense of belonging. It reminds me of the Nazis and Nietzsche. It’s a kind of belonging that tells you that you are better than the mass of humanity. And as we all know, that type of thinking does lead to concepts like ‘life unworthy of life’.

A special twist on the Nazis, though. The Nazis believed in collective perfection: yes, you were supposed to ruthlessly sacrifice everybody else (your spouse, your children) but also yourself for the greater Nazi good. That’s the “socialist” part that the Right is always foaming at the mouth about, as if it made Hitler left-wing. In comparison to Rand, they are correct to use the term, because for Rand (as I understand it) the single individual is all and what we see as selfishness is a complete virtue. Selfishness is NOT a Nazi virtue: you can only be brutal to those who are Other or who knowingly betray the greater master group. Rand allows you to be brutal to absolutely any single individual who falls off the bandwagon, however that happens.

Interesting article and discussion! I keep thinking that I should see this new Ayn Rand film, although I hear it is dreadful, but the books are much too long to waste my time on.