Raw Objectivism

I have received questions from the curious few who wonder what exactly objectivism has to do with what I choose to eat. The answer is that it has to do with every action I choose to take as well as every aspect of my life.

Objectivism is a philosophy by Ayn Rand that holds these basic tenants to be true (to quote Ayn Rand):

1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.

2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses) is man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.

3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.

4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

On a very basic level, human beings (along with all other conscious beings) are driven by the “pleasure-pain mechanism”. Basically, that which gives us pleasure, we pursue and is the correct choice. However, that which gives us pain is indicative of a dangerous path and should be avoided.

Pleasure and pain should be looked at from a long-term perspective, considering the consequences of your actions down the road and not just in the moment. (i.e. excessive drinking can lead to liver failure and death, drug usage can put you in jail, both can harm your relationships. So the pleasure you receive in the short term is outweighed by the pain you feel in the long-term). The ability to consider the consequences of your actions derives from a higher level of perception, or consciousness. The conscious human can apply reason to his choices and determine which is the best in long run.

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Tags: Ayn Rand, Objectivism, Vegan
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Vegetarian Origins

I have been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old, and I became a vegetarian for the noblest of reasons: to spite my mother. As any pre-adolescent is prone to do I rebelled from my mother’s insistence that I eat steak for dinner. She had made it and I was going to eat it, darn it! I loathed steak. The texture, the smell, the taste, the fact that it was usually pink inside and looked far too much like human flesh. It disgusted me. So I told her I wasn’t going to eat it, not thoroughly convinced I could follow through with this claim but boldly stating it anyway.

This is where my mother made her first mistake. She told me that I had to eat the steak unless I became a vegetarian. I saw an out. A free pass from ever having to eat steak again. I could just not eat any meat! It was brilliant. So I looked her in the eye, hands on my hips in defiance, and said “fine, I’m a vegetarian.” I’m not sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Once she recovered from the initial shock, she made her second mistake. “You’ll never last,” she said. So, of course, I had to.

Fast forward to 11 years later. At 23 I was still going strong on my lacto- ovo- vegetarian diet. Aside from some misunderstandings about what exactly was in Caesar dressing (anchovy paste? is that even food?) and the fact that crab rangoons contain crab (who would have thought, I know, though I was probably 13 when this happened, so some forgiveness, please?) I have not deviated from this lifestyle (suck it, Mom).

Being a vegetarian has never really been a challenge for me. I don’t think of meat as food anymore. I realize other people eat it, but I don’t always remember that they do. The idea just seems so foreign. I didn’t even miss much meat when I initially became vegetarian. Aside from bacon, liver sausage and liver dumplings (don’t ask, I’m Czech, this is what we eat) I didn’t miss meat at all.

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Tags: Ayn Rand, Belly fat, Body Pump, Diet, Macrobiotics, Objectivism, Omnivore, p90x, Paleo, Raw Vegan, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weight loss
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