So what I gather from some of the hard-core Libertarians and Ayn Rand devotee's is that ours should be a society where everyone is only out for him or herself. As long as you can prop yourself up, then you can remain. But if you fall down, that is your own fault; and to expect society to pick you back up would be an unfair drain to the rest of us. So if you fall down, either get yourself back up or die.
This has in it the belief that misfortune can always be avoided and that when it occurs it is always deserved. But, we should all know that Shit Happens. Your home could catch fire through no fault of your own. Your retirement savings could be wiped out by unscrupulous traders or unethical companies. Any of us is just one misfortune away from needing help. You can get hit by a bus while dining at a cafe, then the insurance company can drop you and suddenly you're bankrupt. So if we insist that help is for the weak and should not be something that we as a society want to provide, then we must all live in fear. We should be terrified every day that we might fall down (or be knocked down), blamed for it, and then left to die. I don't know about you, but I don't want a world where everyone is terrified. I thought that is why we developed societies- so we can work together and help each other out. The Any Rand model seems pretty anti-society to me and is not a worldview that I want to cultivate. I am not suggesting that there should be no consequences for bad decisions. There needs to be a balance. And the hard-core Libs and Ayn Randers are calling for 100% individual, which would be anarchy.
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