What John Galt Would Say to Will Smith

Freedom Lessons from Dan Sanchez from Slaps Around the World.

Ayn Rand

Photo: public domain

What would John Galt say to Will Smith?

Guest post by Dan Sanchez

I'm not a big fan of celebrity news - to be honest, I have little to no idea who all these celebrities are and how they achieved this so-called status - but there was an Oscar fight last night that just happened. it does not absorb the attention of the media and the public, but in fact is fully consistent with the idea promoted by this blog. Call it a hard quick lesson in freedom.

I'll show you the details of the evening if you haven't heard about it, but it will be soon. After host Chris Rock joked with actress Jada Pinkett Smith, her husband Will Smith, a great actor, took to the stage and literally slapped The Rock on live television. Smith then returned and cursed the master from his seat.

In fact, Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar that night. In his acceptance speech, Smith tearfully apologized (but not to the man he had beaten).

Well, in a way, it's a storm in a teacup. In a world where governments around the world are waging wars for freedom, and in the case of the Russian government, even waging literal wars against civilians, it can be seen as a distraction if one well-paid artist beats another in a public collapse. But since it attracts (rightly or wrongly) public attention, it is good that we are trying to learn from it: especially for the benefit of adolescents and children.

Obviously most people are wrong about this. But it can be a lesson if you think about why.

Every young person should formalize what happened last night by reading Gault's Speech from Ayn Rand's bestseller Atlas Shrugged . In this famous speech, Rand's hero John Galt said:

“As long as men have the desire to live together, no man should… do you hear me?

Since then, many others have referred to this principle as the "principle of non-violence". The dedication section is very important because it states that violent self-defense is legal. Understanding this principle is the basis for understanding freedom and justice.

Of course, when evaluating violent conflict, people ask an important question - and this is an important question: "Who started it?" But a clearer formulation: who started the violence ? Who created the troupe? Who initially caused the damage to other people or property? In short (how can a mother ask you if you bring your little brother to tears), who will be the first to wave his fist?

Will Smith clearly found Chris Rock's jokes offensive and disrespectful. He probably thought that this was an attempt on the honor of his wife. Perhaps he found it harmful to his family's reputation (although it is no more harmful than his reaction).

But, as Murray Rothbard writes in The Ethic of Freedom , no one has a reputation, because "reputation is a function of purely subjective attitudes and beliefs about them embodied in the minds of others." And we "cannot have the beliefs and opinions of others."

So Rocco's jokes, whether funny or not, or just for fun, or even overly harsh, do not violate anyone's rights, but Smith began the violence, and he was wrong.

It may seem silly to demand slaps from a celebrity, but these principles should be clarified when they arise, because no matter how smart they seem, people constantly ignore them (or misunderstand or ignore) ...). and we all suffer from it. For example, the frequent use of the term "micro-aggression" threatens the right to self-expression, blurring the line between non-violent behavior and violent initiative. (“He attacked me, this is hate speech!”) Much of today's public policy uses the power of the state to counter nonviolent behavior that some consider offensive.

Freedom is constantly in danger, because most people do not see the line between just and unjust violence. In order to preserve freedom, we need to inform society (especially young people) about the ideas of freedom, especially that violence does not breed violence.

The best way to do this is to hang up the phone while repeating the slap and pick up a book called Atlas Shrugged . Unfortunately or for worse, you can always use the weight of his body to protect yourself.

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DAN SANCHEZ

Dan Sanchez is director of content at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and editor of FEE.org, who previously published a version of this article.

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