OCON - Application of an Idea #5
The Morality of Self-Interest
The previous essay of this series ended with: “Naturally, rights became liberty and justice became capitalism. But today, middle-class mobility is under assault by the State and their living constitution. And postmodern sovereignty over production and trade increasingly resides in a leviathan sanctioned by regulated investment banks and their clients.”
To explain the breakthrough and its subsequent debasement, Onkar Ghate took the main stage in Boston on the morning of July 2, 2025. In 18th century Western culture, reason became freedom. But not only did science lead to rights, but technology bred constitutional government and the industrial revolution spawned capitalism. While the Enlightenment was “a new form of life and survival,” its radical intellectualism was degraded by the fear of true independence.
But despite the achievements, the legacy and traditions of Christian altruism were alive and fighting back. In the humanities departments of academia, faith replaced thought, hope overtook production and charity - not trade, became the virtue.
How this was done is slick. Because no one can practice self-sacrifice and survive for very long, altruism’s pretense became “giving back” as self-interest. And this was done by neutralizing our understanding of both in order “to prevent a rational concept of selfishness.” But sacrifice yourself for what? Collective abundance - pick your poison: God, workers, greatest number, national prestige, or planet Earth.
In response, Ghate stated that “A new morality is needed to justify the pursuit of happiness.” But not new to the audience in Boston, that morality is Objectivism’s “self-assertion against an orgy of self-sacrifice.” And regarding the mission of the Ayn Rand Institute, it is nothing less than “saving the Enlightenment.”
Overall, the theme of OCON 2025 was Ayn Rand’s first published book of non-fiction: For the New Intellectual. And to help define that, Rand told Mike Wallace in their March 17, 1961, interview, “I believe that the businessmen today should discover the intellect and the intellectual should discover reality.” The message being that businessmen are pragmatic, intellectuals are subjective, both would be well-served with objective principles and Western civilization would benefit tremendously from their integration.
Of course, there is no such thing as a collective mind. That’s where you come in. The American Revolution of 1760 was a revolution of the mind. Radicals for capitalism are intolerant of contradictions. Self-assertion needs to replace the sacrificial forces in our economic lives. And when your intellect is integrated with reality, your rationally defined values will become your new benchmark in your pursuit of happiness. To learn more, please click the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Moneyball-Method-Middle-Class-Manifesto-Objective/dp/1696009111/