"The God of the Machine" (An Interesting Book I'm Reading)

[ymarkov]

The God of the Machine (Paperback)
by Isabel Paterson (Author), Stephen D. Cox (Author)

"The lust for power is most easily disguised under humanitarian or philanthropic motives. It appeals naturally to people who feel a sentimental uneasiness for the misfortunes of others, mixed with craving for unearned praise, and most especially if they are non-productive. An amiable child wishing for a million dollars will usually "intend" to give away half of this illusory wealth. The twist in the motive is shown by the fact that it would be just as easy to wish such a windfall directly to those others without imagining oneself as the intermediary of their good fortune."

Tzedaka implications, anyone?

27 books cite this book:

# Letters of Ayn Rand by Ayn Rand
# Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand
# The Passion of Ayn Rand by Barbara Branden
# Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (The Ayn Rand Library, Volume 6) by Leonard Peikoff
# The Journals of Ayn Rand by Ayn Rand
etc.

Comments

[malenkiy-scot.livejournal.com]

This is in line with one of the explanations of why "chesed leumim chatas" - true chesed is when you want to help people in trouble, but do not want them to get in trouble in order to help them. When dreaming of saving a damsel in distress, realize that it is better for the damsel not to get distressed at all.

[disbalanced.livejournal.com]

Замечательное наблюдение, спасибо!
С цдакой (по-моему) всё ровно так же, если она не даётся "ли-шма". В "Пиркей Авот" этот феномен описан: "Желает давать, но не желает, чтоб давали другие". Есть много еврейских благотворителей (нееврейских тоже, естественно, но не о них сейчас речь), на примере которых это весьма заметно, разве не так?

[bringing-peace.livejournal.com]

The twist in the motive is shown by the fact that it would be just as easy to wish such a windfall directly to those others without imagining oneself as the intermediary of their good fortune.

WOW!!!!