It has been said that those that refuse to get vaccinated or wear a mask are acting selfishly. Others are claiming it is a matter of individual liberty and personal freedom to refuse vaccines or to refuse to wear a mask when necessary. (see: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/01/opinion/unvaccinated-delta-variant-covid.html?fbclid=IwAR16VNQUky_Ql2s8jIlR_jhg-p9ygt6_MfgsSCnAu5eoZ58sL1tDNi-QZGk).
"It’s enraging to listen to people complain that wearing a mask or getting a simple shot is akin to an assault on their freedom while children who have no choice bear the brunt of their nonsense."
This makes me wonder, in the ideal libertarian society described as Atlantis in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, would John Galt have worn a mask or been vaccinated? Would refusing to wear a mask or refusing to get vaccinated be regarded as 'selfish' behavior - frowned upon - or held up as a standard of value?
In her book 'The Virtue of Selfishness' Ayn Rand does not refer to selfishness in the conventional sense. She defines selfishness as the pursuit of one's rational self interest. More specifically, it is to support oneself by one's own effort in non-sacrificial relationships with others. She is very clear that it is not a license to do as one pleases. A 'selfish' brute in the more conventional sense that is motivated by any number of irrational whims, urges, or wishes is not consistent with Rand's standard of selfishness.
To quote specifically:
"the moral purpose of a man's life is the achievement of his own happiness. This does not mean that he is indifferent to all men, that human life is of no value to him, and that he has no reason to help others in an emergency."
To me, COVID19 and the delta variant seem like plausible emergencies where rational self interest and selfishness (at least the way I understand that Rand described it) would very likely mean getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in close places where COVID transmission is likely.
The moral superiority of selfishness is contrasted with the moral cannibalism of altruism and collectivism which are based on the premise of sacrificial relationships between members of society and which fail to recognize that life is an end in itself. Rand writes:
"the principle of trade is the only rational, ethical principle for all human relationships, personal and social, private and public, spiritual and material."
So Rand's ethics implies that in both business and personal relationships, we can practice ethical behavior through non-sacrificial relationships with others, trading value for value in a number of ways that transcend mere market transactions. So how do we apply the ethical principles of selfishness depicted in Atlas Shrugged to the case of COVID? By NOT wearing a mask where necessary and REFUSING the vaccine, one IS refusing to acknowledge the value of other human lives that may be at stake. By contributing to the continuing spread of COVID and its variants, one is fostering sacrificial relationships with others. This is not an exchange that we could say represents 'value for value.' To add some clarity, we are not talking about something minor here like dropping chewing gum on the sidewalk or refusing to clean up after walking one's dog. We are talking about real value for value here (or lack thereof) as it impacts real individuals and not some abstract collective (as Rand would argue - ethics can only apply to individuals). We are talking about putting the health and well being of many lives and the mental well being of children at risk.
While no claim of authority on ethics is being made here, nor any claim of being an expert in Rand's Objectivism, it seems though that in a rational society like Atlantis, John Galt would have worn a mask and would have taken the vaccine (although others have tried to claim the opposite I am not convinced). Atlantis might have in fact been the first to produce a vaccine (given there would likely be fewer public choice related hurdles to navigate! While there would likely be no laws requiring vaccinations or mask mandates in Atlantis, I have a feeling most folks there taking the oath required to be part of that community would also make the same selfish decision to mask up and take the shot.
"I swear by my life and my love of it - that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." - Atlas Shrugged
