The Philosophy in Defense of Firearms-Chapter Ten The Philosophy in Defense of Firearms Epilogue I wrote this book with two audiences in mind. Primarily it is an advertisement for the philosophy of Objectivism aimed at gun owners. I wanted to introduce the ideas that are implied and required for the right to arms to exist, i.e., the ideas of objectivism. I also wanted to introduce gun owners to the arena in which, ultimately, the battle for the right to arms will be fought. I also wrote this book hoping to convince Objectivist of the morality of arms and self-defense. Objectivists do understand the morality of self-defense, but some are halting in their advocacy of being armed. Few dangers instill as much fear in me as the thought of losing the philosophical leaders of objectivism to some murdering thugs of our big cities. Once you understand the importance of winning the philosophical battle for man's rights, then you can gauge the importance of protecting Objectivist philosophers from attack. The thought of leading Objectivist philosophers walking the streets fully exposed to the thugs and criminals on those streets and without the means of protecting their valuable lives makes me cringe. If this book has introduced the typical gun owner to Ayn Rand's philosophy or if it has introduced an Objectivist to the full implications of the morality of self-defense, then, regardless of any areas in which I have failed, I must consider my efforts worthwhile. An important point that I wanted to make in this book is that the right to arms cannot be justified or exist within the context of fundamentally antithetical philosophies. An autobiographical confessional anecdote illustrates the folly of attempting to adopt certain higher level concepts while denying or evading their roots. I was a freshman in high school when I first discovered Ayn Rand. My discovery primarily consisted of reading Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. I had been drawn to her works to settle my own debate between religion and atheism. Though I greatly admired Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, I didn't, at this time, study Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead; I was looking for answers and wasn't interested in wasting my time on fiction. Nor was I interested in metaphysics and epistemology; the very words terrified me, especially metaphysics that, to me, sounded so disgustingly mystical; therefore I did not pursue Ayn Rand's ideas in these areas. Basically I had accepted that no one had the right to initiate the use of force against another, but without understanding the metaphysical, epistemological or ethical basis of this view I soon saw its meaning dreadfully twisted. My first college course in philosophy, which was an Immanuel Kant promotion, left me totally bewildered. It seemed to me that philosophy had absolutely nothing to do with the living of human life and everything to do with being obscure for obscurity's sake. This experience justified my earlier avoidance of basic philosophy. Although I accepted reason as my only means of knowledge and became a young atheist, I didn't reject the ethics of religion. Basically I had secularized religion. Though I rejected emotions as tools of cognition and the morality of sacrificing for the sake of God, I still held the unchallenged view that ethics meant sacrifice for the sake of others, i.e., society. I continued the same ethics but I substituted society for God. With an altruist ethics piled upon an epistemology of reason, I soon consumed the extensive works of Bertrand Russell, the atheist humanist philosopher. After an intermediary smattering of other philosophers, I soon joined the B. F. Skinner behaviorist camp. Behaviorism seemed suited to a strict adherence to reason and causality because it claims that our behavior is a result of external causal environmental forces; that our behavior is determined. Furthermore, the Walden Two kind of "individualist" collectivism reinforced my own unintegrated individualism. This novel by Skinner advocated that by modifying the environment we could create, to use today's term, a politically correct population. By so arranging society we could create a people who lived by the ethics of altruism. Though I reject a behaviorist ethics and politics, I do believe these psychologists have something worthwhile to say; not about human beings, however, but about sub-humans. The basic choice that is entailed by volition is the choice to focus or remain unfocused, the choice to think or drift. Once an individual has chosen the latter he is not truly living as a human and behaviorism has a lot to say about this person for this person is determined by his environment. In other words, behaviorism is the science of programming unthinking sub-human beings. I read all of Skinner's works even the lengthy Verbal Behavior, his magnum opus. I began a masters program at the University of Texas and soon decided that I was more familiar with behaviorism than my professors and therefore decided to transfer to one of the leading behaviorist schools in the nation, the University of West Virginia. To pay my way through a masters program at UWV, I found a job with the West Virginia Citizen's Action Group (WVCAG). This, I thought, was perfect; I was going to study behaviorism under renown professors and pay for it by working for social justice with WVCAG. My job at WVCAG was to get people to donate to WVCAG to help us lobby for social programs, environmental cleanups, and a withdrawal of American forces from countries like Nicaragua--a country held in very high esteem by WVCAG members. I finally did get an education in Morgantown, West Virginia, but it was not a degree in behavioral psychology. The first hint of a personal renaissance was at WVCAG. I remember one of our little group meetings where we were discussing toxic dump cleanups, union support, minimum wage laws, Nicaragua, gun control and a host of other liberal issues; and I suddenly identified something seriously amiss. This agenda we were to be promoting certainly did not coincide with my feelings about individual rights. Within days I knew that I could no longer sanction the WVCAG's ideas. Though I didn't understand fully, I did feel that something was evil about WVCAG. Now I was without a job and I found myself trying to get by on less and less. With no job, school was impossible. With no job, I attempted to learn how to live on less. Soon I discovered a book by Mel Tappan, Tappan on Survival, which I thought might help me "survive" the mess I had gotten myself into. Tappan's book discussed ideas that I hadn't seen since reading Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal in high school. I, being more concerned with my moral stature, virtually ignored my worsening financial state and began studying these ideas. The real turnaround occurred, however, as a result of one of Tappan's recommended books. Mel Tappan wrote about Atlas Shrugged: "If you haven't read this prophetic work, do so. Ayn Rand wrote it in 1957 and twenty-three years later her vision of the future has, for the most part, become reality."71 It was also about this time that I had dinner with my medical student neighbor. This handsome Dr. Zhivago styled gentleman and his attractive wife were both "good Christians." One night after enjoying a dinner and video, this fellow proudly brought out his "baby"; a stainless steel .357 magnum handgun. I tried to conceal my fear of this gun, but when I discovered that it was loaded my hands grew cold with nervous perspiration and I grew a little faint. In my cold hands was this burning mass of pure evil. How is it that today I have a government model .45 resting on my desk? How is it that, just inches from my head, lies another in my bed's headboard? How is it that today a handgun comfortably fits my hand? The difference is a matter of philosophy. A philosophy of reality as opposed to supernaturalism. A philosophy of reason versus emotionalism. The philosophy created by volitional beings and not the sub-human tissue of behaviorism. A philosophy of rational self-interest as opposed to the self-destructive ideas of altruism. A philosophy of man's right instead of the totalitarian wasteland. In summary, the philosophy of self-defense; the philosophy opposed to self-immolation. Specifically: Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. 71Tappan on Survival by Mel Tappan. Mark A. Laughlin Aboard Legacy Chapter One: A Philosophy, Gun Owners Need it. Chapter Two: Existence, Epistemology, and Man Chapter Three: Ethics Chapter Four: Politics Chapter Five: Resisting Tyranny Chapter Six: Enemies, Traitors, and Subversives Chapter Seven: The Irrationality of Gun Control Chapter Eight: The Principle in Practice Chapter Nine: The Field of Battle Chapter Ten: Epilogue Resources Mark A. Laughlin Aboard Legacy 1740 Harbor Place S. Pasadena, FL 33707 Phone: (813) 288-3317 E-Mail offshore@digital.net