(Note: that I use the term “MAN” because it flows better. It is intended as an inclusive term that is the root of huMAN.)

In the previous article I outlined the 4 basic laws of the universe, and how they apply to human understanding. But then the question becomes, how does one live a non-contradictory life that follows the 4 rules? More to the point, how can society function while following these rules? If you’re an objectivist, or almost one, or just logical you’ve no doubt been told that “that’s not the way the world works”. And you’ve no doubt said “well it should”. Well hopefully this will allow you to be sure that you’re right, and show others why you’re right.

So what is the basis for a moral life? In a word: Values. Values are the core to everything that drives us. It is the rule set, and goals that we live our lives by. Unfortunately, most values are abstract and based on what someone told us to believe or value, not on logic, reason and most importantly non-contradiction. There is no REASON for our values they just are in today’s society.

And that’s a travesty. Values are real. Simply put, they are that, which we value; that which improves one’s life. It sounds very simple, but it’s really quite difficult to grasp what improves our lives and that which harms us unless we understand how the basic laws of the universe and their consequences affect the individual and society as a whole.

The Law of Causality

The law that is most applicable to everyday life is The Law of Causality. Simply put, you must do work to get a result. If you wish to have a rock at the top of a hill and it’s at the bottom, you will expend the same amount of work no matter how you go about it. If you pick it up and run it up the hill it will take the same amount of work (force) as walking it, as driving it up in the bucket of a tractor, or hiring someone to do it for you. Put simply, someone has to pay the bill (do the work). You can choose to do it the hard way (running it up the hill) or the easy way (the tractor), but either way, the amount of force used is the same. This is the core concept behind efficiency and thus why a capitalist society is constantly in a state of deflation (i.e. things get cheaper) and not inflation. Man is continually looking for ways to make his life easier by expending less energy. Some do it justly by applying one’s mind and coming up with solutions that benefit everyone, and some choose to cheat and steal.

Where most people harm themselves and ultimately society is by trying to cheat the Law of Causality. They attempt to get others to do the work for free, or for less than they want to charge for it, or have the government force others to do it for them. They’re rationale is that the man who makes a million dollars thinks nothing of paying someone $100 to do something, but that $100 is a big deal for me, so why not let the millionaire do it, he’ll barely notice? But the millionaire does notice. He still has to do the work. And this time, his work is not for his own benefit, but stolen by others. In short it is against his interest to be a millionaire because if he is, then he is the target of theft (and slavery). So the rational millionaire engages accountants to make it appear, within the rules, as if he isn’t.

A more direct example is any union. The union mentality is that don’t work too hard. Don’t make the rest of us work too hard or look bad because we don’t. This evolved because Joe Hardworker worked very hard. Before unions, Joe got paid according to how hard he worked. So some men would make far more than others on the factory floor because they put more work into the product, and thus were worth more to the factory owner. But as with everything, the layabouts would take credit for Joe’s work, would benefit from his work. The boss of the factory wasn’t stupid, so he would fire the layabouts and try and hire more Joes and fewer layabouts. The layabouts couldn’t have that! They were getting a free ride, and making OK money at it too! Something had to change! Along came the unions. Now the layabouts had the physical might to force the factory owner to pay them what they were not worth: the same amount of money as Joe. They had it in spades, because they made the same as Joe Hardworker, and couldn’t be fired in exchange for Jill Hardworker either. But as with the millionaire, Joe, in addition to being a hardworker, isn’t stupid. So he asks himself “Why should I work hard and have all of these freeloaders benefit?” The end result is the Joe works only as hard as the worst of the bunch. The factory becomes inefficient, the prices of the goods go up, not down (inflation), and ultimately, Nissan crushes the inefficient Ford because they negotiated a better deal with their unions so they’re slightly less inefficient and the product produced is slightly better too.

This blatant disregard for the Law of Causality is socialism; a value system that doesn’t recognize that you have to do work to get something, which results in pain, hardship, and ultimately, if something isn’t done, death. (The Soviet Union is an excellent example of the only possible result to socialism. 50 million dead and 17 million in forced labour (slavery) for the crime of trying to feed their families.)

So since we know that socialism, the most obvious example of the violation of the Law of Causality is a bad thing, what does this mean? Put simply, it means that altruism (alternately referred to as charity, compassion and other euphemisms) is a destructive force, not a positive force. It is an anti-value. Giving that which you produce for nothing in return helps no one. It harms the very people that you think you’re helping. Charity without repayment of some sort, is equally as harmful to both yourself and the person that you’re giving it to. What this means is that the very value system that the religions and socialists of the world sell as your path to salvation are harmful to you.

The alternative is simple: Enlightened self-interest. For those of you that saw A Beautiful Mind, you know what I’m talking about. The beautiful woman in the red dress that all 3 guys want to hit on, but all know that nothing good can come from it, so all of them choose to talk to her friends and thus know that they’re all going to enjoy themselves, not just one of them, or more likely none of them. This applies in everyday life. Choose the path that helps you, while not harming others. Your actions by definition will help others, because by helping yourself, you will be more prosperous and thus able to buy that which others produce in kind.

The key to this concept is free trade. A just man, and a just society never forces someone to provide that which they haven’t decided to trade to the other wilfully. There must be an exchange entered into that both parties see as beneficial to themselves without the government (with their guns) or someone pointing a gun at the other party. By requiring that all human action is voluntary we ensure that every man, woman and child can do what is in their interest.

Notice that I said “harm”. What is harm? Is the man that competes for a job, and gets it harming the man that doesn’t get the job? No because you didn’t act against the man, you acted for yourself and (hopefully) got the job because you were the best for the job. (if this was affirmative action and you got the job because you’re black or a woman, then yes you would be harming the man). To harm a man, you must physical harm the man or his property.

But why property? Because notice that we said that a man must be able to control that which he produces. To be able to voluntarily enter in to trade, he must own it, and must be in control of it. That means that that which the man produces or trades for must be his, and protected by the same laws that protect him. The man and what he produces are no different otherwise you give sanction to the layabout to take the man’s property without his permission. Property rights are the basis for all human freedom, and the basis for a society based on non-contradictory value system.

Does this mean that you don’t do things for friends? Absolutely not. It means that you trade with your friends and even your spouse the way you trade your labour for money. Only when a relationship becomes imbalanced and one party is putting more into the relationship than another does the relationship fail. Unlike work however, the relationship with your spouse and your friend are much more complex because the payment for your effort and hard work may be indirect. It is not a one to one transaction. Hence both parties must be aware of and respect the effort of the other and work to ensure equilibrium. Incidentally this is the key to long-term happiness in a relationship, and many years of happy marriage (aside from adhering to these laws and sharing a common value system).

Non-Contradiction

The Law of Non-Contradiction is a little more difficult to define in everyday life, other than as a litmus test for everything others say, and indeed for your own actions to see if they are the right path to take. But none-the-less it applies at all times. The most obvious example is the value of truth. Truth is both an absolute and a value. You must value the truth otherwise you will harm yourself with the consequences of the truth that you ignored or were not aware of. Thus it is the prime value.

The problem is that our society demands that loyalty and friendship come before the truth or right and wrong. If you were to apply this contradictory value, the end result would be harm for your friend. (Think of the friend hooked on drugs that you don’t turn in because they’re your friend.)

The problem with putting the truth first is that those friends that you have that are not objective and logical will feel hurt or betrayed by your actions as a result. You must decide if you value the truth, and thus yours, and your friend’s prosperity, or loyalty first. You must be clear and obvious to your friends that you will act in this way, otherwise they will hate you for it. And make no mistake the weak man, or the man looking for the free ride will not accept this and will not be your friend. This, above all else is a choice you have to make, because it may make you a very lonely person unless you find likeminded people.

And to be clear: To play it both ways makes you a man with two masters. And those two masters will come in conflict (Contradiction) and you will be forced to choose. By that point the cost will be high. You cannot pay both sides of this coin. It must be truth and then friendship with those that value truth first as well, or friendship and accept the consequences of the truth that you ignored.

The Law of Identity

The Law of Identity applies itself most directly in two ways. The first is religion. We’ve all heard the line, that if you pray to God, that God will hear your payers and answer you. It simply isn’t true, because an object is what it is. You cannot change its nature without doing work. You must apply the Law of Causality and put in effort to get what you want. No amount of Prayer will change the fact that you have to make mortgage payments at the end of the month and thus work hard to be able to pay it. The mortgage and the reality of it is what it is, is the core of The Law of Identity. Religion seeks to ignore the Law of Identity by suggesting that an all powerful being is watching over us and can change the nature of the universe at any time they wish. Believing this kind of non-sense is harmful and ultimately anti-life: Both to yourself and everyone around you. Beware the “true believer” they will harm you far more for their best intentions than your most mortal enemy who is dead set on your elimination specifically because their actions are all based on a wilful ignorance of the Law of Identity.

The second way that the Law of Identity applies itself is by accepting what you have, and by looking logically to see what you can achieve and if you’re willing to put in the effort to achieve it. On the basic level, is that thing (say a car) that you value, worth the effort to get? Will it harm you in other ways to get it? What are the prerequisites for said car to be yours? What will you have to trade, or how will you have to work harder to get it? You must decide if owning that car is going to make your life better, even with what you have to sacrifice than it would be if you chose not to buy it.

This is where people become socialists, thieves and ultimately slave masters. They REALLY want the car. So they attempt to cheat the consequences of owning the car. If you do this, someone else has to pay the bill, it’s just a game a musical chairs to see who gets short changed, and how they will have their hard work stolen from them in exchange for you getting a new car. And make no mistake, eventually someone will screw you and you’ll be the one standing up who gets to pay the bill.

It is the identification of these realities that is the obvious application of the Law of Identity.

Atlas Shrugged is specifically a story about a man who is the last man standing, and refuses to pay the bill. What’s more, that man convinces others like him to not pay the bill either. The consequences are predictable and we’re seeing them every single day as what Rand predicted comes true in reality, not just in her novel.

The Law of Universality

The Law of Universality is important not for what it tells us in our everyday life, that the rules of the universe apply uniformly to the farmer, the business man and the freeloading politician alike. It is important because of what it doesn’t say. You will be faced with people telling you that values and truth don’t matter that it’s only what people like and want that matter. That because there is no universal truth, that all that matters is whim, or wishes or wants; that the suicide bomber’s life is just as valuable as your life. That is complete rubbish.

Your life, the just man’s life, whom lives his life to improve and get better and live in harmony with those around him and his environment, is clearly worth more than the man that attempts to kill others for no better reason than they don’t believe in the same god. You can measure this worth against your value system based on non-contradiction. More importantly this obvious example of the Law of Universality is that the man who fights in self-defence against the evil man attempting to take his life or harm him, is obviously more moral than the man that initiated the violence. In fact, the man that doesn’t defend himself is immoral because he doesn’t value his life. You must act, using whatever force is necessary to protect your life. It is the most fundamental value that there is. That is why the war in Afghanistan is just and the war in Iraq is not. The war in Afghanistan is a war of self-defence for the actions of 9/11. The war in Iraq is a war of revenge. The force was applied in aggression, not self-defence. In Afghanistan then, it is absolutely appropriate to use whatever means are necessary to destroy evil. The soldier risking his life to defend his country and its citizens is worth far more than the Taliban, and anyone that directly or indirectly supports them. And when an innocent is killed, the blame lies at the hands of the aggressor, not the man that is defending himself and accidently kills someone that wasn’t directly involved in the fighting. This is the lesson of WWII and why there has not been a just war since. (And why people continue to die in Afghanistan for no reason. We’re afraid to be just men and value our soldiers as they should be valued.)

One trap that you will be lead into: Preference. You will be confronted by the subjectivists all of the time using your preference for apples over oranges as an example that there is no universal truth. But preference IS universal. It is your individual truth. You prefer apples to oranges. It affects no one else, and is your truth at this moment in time. That is a universal as it gets. Do not fall into the trap of accepting preference as anything but what it is. And make no mistake, if your preference is not based on a logical value system, it will still harm you if it violates any of the laws of the universe.

So in short, Values built on the 4 laws of the universe are the key to all human happiness and accomplishment, both for the individual and for society. Your values are specifically what helps you and makes your life better. Everything else is anti-value and thus will result in hardship, suffering and eventually death. You must find what you value based on these laws and live by these values. You must measure everything you do, and everything you want to do, and everything that others do against the concept of improving one’s life without physically harming another or their property. You must use your mind and JUDGE everything. To not judge (i.e. to not be judgemental as we’re all taught to be) is to betray your mind. It is to accept that which harms you as of equal value as that which helps you. In short it is irrational to not judge. You must judge or you will not be able to determine right and wrong. You will not be able to determine who you wish to be friends with and who will hurt you. You will not be able to act in a objective way that serves your values.

And you must trade fairly with others, and guard, every second of every day, from taking the short cut and forcing someone to give you that which you haven’t earned, or using the force of the government to force someone to give you that which you haven’t earned. The just man enters into trade with others voluntarily.

Are you a just man? If you are, and you consciously choose your values and measure all of your actions against the laws of nature and the simple consequences of them, then you are a just man, and an Objectivist.

And I want to meet you.