Libertarianism on crack cocaine

I had a rant the other day on the followers of Ayn Rand and the Ayn Rand Institute. Selfish greed is truly their God. Look out for yourself and screw everybody else their creed. Well they have truly outdone themselves with this piece; U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami Victims.

Our money is not the government's to give.

As the death toll mounts in the areas hit by Sunday's tsunami in southern Asia, private organizations and individuals are scrambling to send out money and goods to help the victims. Such help may be entirely proper, especially considering that most of those affected by this tragedy are suffering through no fault of their own.

The United States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government's to give.

Every cent the government spends comes from taxation. Every dollar the government hands out as foreign aid has to be extorted from an American taxpayer first. Year after year, for decades, the government has forced American taxpayers to provide foreign aid to every type of natural or man-made disaster on the face of the earth: from the Marshall Plan to reconstruct a war-ravaged Europe to the $15 billion recently promised to fight AIDS in Africa to the countless amounts spent to help the victims of earthquakes, fires and floods--from South America to Asia. Even the enemies of the United States were given money extorted from American taxpayers: from the billions given away by Clinton to help the starving North Koreans to the billions given away by Bush to help the blood-thirsty Palestinians under Arafat's murderous regime.

The question no one asks about our politicians' "generosity" towards the world's needy is: By what right? By what right do they take our hard-earned money and give it away?

I have not heard them screaming about the money "extorted" from American taxpayers going to make Halliburton executives rich. Even though they may represent about the worst in human nature I will have to say one thing for them, at least they are honest about it. The philosophy of Ayn Rand does represent Libertarianism on crack cocaine.