Comment

Tim Pawlenty, Climate Change Denier (and Creationist)

96
Prononymous, rogue demon hunter6/29/2011 11:54:07 am PDT

I don’t have a problem with the idea that selfishness is good. In my opinion it is good, in the right circumstances. There is an evolutionary dichotomy of the interests of the individual and interests of the group, even in colonial/social organisms. Different evolutionary pressures can favor one side of that dichotomy or the other and often there are pressures acting in both directions.

My problem with Randroids, libertarians, etc is that they start from false premises to reach a false conclusion. Just like communists, Rand etc start from overly simplistic axioms about the nature of human behavior. The reality is that selfishness and cooperation are both important aspects of human societies. Both have their advantages in various circumstances and being able to adjust the level of both is an important aspect of human adaptability.