On the contrary, the buyer was right. Ayn Rand's approach merely empowers the powerful at the expense of the weak. That said, Ayn Rand would - and has argued -that if CountryWide in analyzing their position decided to take the house instead of working a deal that is in and of itself rational for them. They need only be ready to accept the consequences of that decision. The buyer, on the other hand, needs to define himself as more than the owner of the property and be willing to accept the loss of the house as one possible logical outcome of buying it. There is no question of greed in her philosophy as long as one accumulates based on voluntary rationalism. Her philosphy and approach to social policy is based on small scale capitalism not the political/monopoly scale we have today. In all fairness, since she was appalled at the parasitical capitalism of her day she must be turning over in her grave at what she sees now. At any rate, her concept of power was never really applicable to economic realities other than to favor those with property - and lots of it. Her picture of idealized American capitalism not withstanding.
R. King
of NJ
@
May 24, 2008 15:23:00 PM
Ari's comment
I believe you misrepresent Ayn (not Ann) Rand's position.
Reasoning that the individual "must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself." conforms to rational egotism. But this is not greed.
Greed: An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.
Angelo Mozilo is not being rational if he decides in the current housing market not to restructure a loan. If CountryWide takes the house, there is a good chance they will not be able to recover as much in the short term then they would if they worked with the borrower.
Ayn would always choose the rational path, which in this case work in favor of both the bank and borrower.
David
of KS
@
May 23, 2008 10:58:50 AM
Angelo's True Beliefs
Angelo's words express his true feelings toward his customers. It says allot about our "corporate culture" once you realize that many senior executives as well as most of their hencemen, our politicians, are totally out of touch with reality. Growing up in a Republican household it required a tremendous amount of reading of alternative media to conclude that greed is what controls and motivates most people. Ann Rand was totally wrong in her thought process. Greed is wrong when taken to excess. May God have mercy on her and Angelo and their "closeted like thinkers".
R. King of NJ @ May 24, 2008 15:23:00 PM
David of KS @ May 23, 2008 10:58:50 AM
Ari from N.Y. of NY @ May 22, 2008 12:36:49 PM
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