Hi @Jon Letendre,
Thanks! It was very valuable to me.
I think you nailed it.
Ok, a few questions :
1) Can you recommend me something to read on this issue (acting on principle rather circumstances of the moment and long term vs short term) ?
2) I would assert that thinking long-term only makes sense in the case that the death of the physical body is not the death of our consciousness (a proposition which I personally find probable).
In the case that the death of the physical body is also "death" of our consciousness, thinking "long-term" does not make literal sense. Since if so, in the really-long-term, there is no consciousness, and since without consciousness there is no value, in the really-long-term, for oneself, there is no value.
So it personally interests me how objectivists are able to think long-term without thinking "really-long-term". I do think that in the quote bellow (beginning with "I would say to my fellows"), you have demonstrated excellent long-term-thinking, far beyond my personal capabilities. So, assuming that you probably believe (correct me if I am wrong) that annihilation and lack of values is the end of everything, can you reflect how is it possible to think long-term?
Personally, I believe that it is not possible to prove that death of the physical body is annihilation of consciousness as well. Of course, we observe that embodied consciousness depends upon the material body and the brain. However, a disembodied consciousness is not something that we have the tools to observe. Since we lack the tools, we cannot successfully determine the proposition of complete annihilation to be true. So, for me, real-long-term thinking is something which can exist, at least theoretically. But this theoretical possibility does not leave me with enough tools of application in concrete human-life situations.
c) Regarding the question on acting on principles rather than on the circumstances of the moment :
Would you assert that one should always act on principle?
Excellent, and describes what actually happened in the 20th century to a much better extent than my scenario.