To Phil and whomever else it may concern:

Isn't there something deeply contradictory about the mission of trying to "fix the world" by converting it to a philosophy whose founder celebrated one's prime focus being not on saving others from their folly, but on pursuing one's own self-development and self-fulfillment?

When Rand was told she was obligated to write a new novel, she rebelled against the altruism of it -- then wondered: What if all the creative, productive people in the world went on strike? She wrote Atlas Shrugged, not to convert people to her way of thinking and living, but to be a rational individual, creating and producing something of value that ~she~ wanted to see come into being.

If others bought Rand's novel and liked it, then good -- she would make money, too! :-) But she was not ~obligated~ to them to make them something they would like -- nor to ~herself~ (and her philosophy) to make something that would "convert" them to her way of thinking and living.

And isn't it deeply contradictory to try to create and multiply ~organizations~ of individualists? A bit like herding cats, no? :-) Trying to create the Objectivist equivalent of "churches" and "religious communities" is doomed to frustration and defeat. Objectivists, and people who should be Objectivists, are not susceptible to the mystical, altruistic, and collectivistic values that draw most people to religious organizations.

If you ~must~ focus on creating new Objectivists, do it one person at a time, individual to individual -- and carve out plenty of time for your own personal enjoyment and rejuvenation. It's much more effective ~showing~ what Objectivist makes possible in a person's happiness and achievement, than ~preaching~ it.

That's why Atlas Shrugged has "converted" far more people to rational individualism than all the lectures and essays by Peikoff, Branden, Kelley, et al combined. It ~shows~ people how to live as a rational, productive human being -- as opposed to an Atilla or a Witch Doctor.

If your "thing," your best productive fulfillment, is to be a missionary to others, "spreading the word" -- rather than ~creating~ your own original words, artworks, bridges, children, crops, clean floors, etc. -- then God bless you, go for it. But don't do it thinking you are somehow ~obligated~ to spread Objectivism.

You do not exist for Objectivism. Objectivism exists for ~you~. Objectivism is, and was only ~intended~ to be, a tool for living life and being happy, not a weapon for bashing the heads of others -- nor for chaining yourself to a life of spitting into the wind of mysticism-altruism-collectivism.

REB