Conservatives Don't Understand This

"Research published in peer-reviewed journals links service to others with benefits for your physical health, mental health, emotional well-being, happiness and fulfillment, and even your professional success."

Conservatives and libertarians are known for promoting individual rights but tend to ignore the general welfare (note: it is in the US Constitution). Click on the link below for the results of research essentially showing that empathy and altruism help both individuals and society as a whole:

Wonder Drug: The Scientific Evidence That Serving Others Is the Best Medicine for Yourself

Is Altruism Evil?

"Rand examines the philosophy that holds individual men should be used as sacrificial animals for the group, the fundamental premise of collectivist politics." (Ayn Rand - Why Altruism is Evil)

Following was my response to this political/ethical extremism:

"Ayn Rand has no idea of how humanity has become a successful species: a mixture of self-interest and altruism. Extremes of self-interest are the 'evils' she should be decrying. Show me any society that ever was only altruistic from the top down. Her argument is the same type of argument that Republicans make about 'socialism.' However, those who want the government to be the sole means of production are very few. What Republicans and Libertarians are calling 'socialism' is actually 'democratic socialism': regulated capitalism with taxation proportional to the ability to pay such in order to minimize economic inequality."

This link is a nice rebuttal to her philosophy, which presents research into the negative effects of her ideas:

This is what happens if you take Ayn Rand seriously