The response to the death of Steve Jobs is overwhelming; as I indicated in yesterday’s post, there’s an outpouring of admiration, affection, and love for the all-American capitalist. But there’s also what Ayn Rand called the hatred of the good for being good and the contrast echoes today’s stark cultural schism. As if we needed more evidence that America is dying and desperately in need of resuscitation, the Christians known for anti-gay protests of American soldiers’ funerals announced on Twitter that its members plan to picket Steve Jobs’s funeral (this from Yahoo!’s Lookout). The Baptist church wrote: “He had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin.” The Tweet was posted from an iPhone.
On one hand, it’s merely another example of where faith meets force. But the opponents of capitalism are dead serious; they aim to occupy the United States of America in every sense, taking it by force, fueled by faith in fill-in-the-blank, from the religion of Judeo-Christianity or Islam to the religion of environmentalism, welfare-statism, and some form of egalitarianism, such as multiculturalism or feminism. The faith-based forces are merging, as Objectivist academic dean Onkar Ghate observed some time ago, and we see this today, from the cancellation of NBC’s Playboy Club, vilified by feminists and religionists alike, to the outright hatred of Steve Jobs.
Don’t expect the press to report on this ominous rise of what propels fascist power. As I observed when I denounced nihilist Jon Stewart, a puny-minded cretin taken more seriously among dominant intellectuals than any single journalist, the media are complicit in this arguably historic shift toward virulent, explicit anti-capitalism that results in totalitarianism. Today, journalists, such as Digital Media Fellow Jeff Sonderman at the Poynter Institute, post pieces mocking Steve Jobs in the context of his death. They’re a disgrace to the profession, but they have influence; I’ve seen Objectivists sharing and posting pieces that undermine, mock, and attack titans of industry, including Mr. Jobs.
In a particularly telling contrast in the city where Apple is based, Cupertino, California, the man suspected of opening fire at a quarry, killing three co-workers and injuring six, Shareef Allman, had become upset during a company meeting, left the meeting and returned with guns to start killing people. Various reports indicate that the churchgoing man of faith, who had been convicted of numerous crimes, was upset that his shift had changed. This beast represents man at his worst; the ultimate death worshipper, who turns to faith and force as against reason as a way of dealing with life’s problems. Steve Jobs was man at his best; the ultimate life worshipper, who follows reason, not faith or force. His life was dedicated to solving life’s problems, to rational self-interest and the pursuit of happiness. Each man must choose either one philosophy or the other, that which hastens death or that which promotes life. As Objectivism demonstrates, every choice is ultimately reducible to this essential choice: life or death.
Certainly, now is the time to remember the incredible achievement which was the life of Steve Jobs (and I’ve included a statement from his family below). But it must be said that the death of Steve Jobs signals the death of capitalism. Not necessarily the inevitable death, which may be spared by individuals uniting to follow reason, individual rights and living in accordance with reality, but its spiritual death. The pursuit of knowledge, which requires reason, is at the core of Apple’s success and the art of Steve Jobs’ remarkable life. At the core of today’s destroyers, a mindless herd that obeys intellectuals, goosesteps toward takeover of Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge, and is led by the almighty Obama, is nothing; the center of those posting jokes about Steve Jobs, stalking our streets, cities, and companies, is hollow. Life has been drained from them year by year in soulless, government-controlled bureaucracies and institutions breeding contempt, envy, and the worship of death. They have lost the will to live and are like body snatchers who seek only to destroy that which is living. Zombies stimulate them and give a jolt to their death-tracked lives (if you can call it life). Steve Jobs was a giant who towered over them. Now that he’s gone, they’re going in for the kill to see to it that one never rises again. To do that, they must kill what made Steve Jobs possible, capitalism. The destroyers are making progress. They are acting fast and taking over. And, from Mecca and Teheran to Wall Street, Los Angeles, and Boston, and Cupertino, they are everywhere.
Steve Jobs fought for his life. I say to those who admire him: So should you.
Statement from the family of Steve Jobs:
“Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.
In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.”
Take note, conservatives, anyone-but-Obama types and apologists for Republicans: the governor of Mississippi’s pardon of rapists and murderers is an example of the danger of mixing religion and government. That he pardoned over 200 prisoners, several of whom are on the lam now that a judge has issued an injunction against the inmates’ releases on the grounds that the pardons may have violated the state constitution by failing to give sufficient public notice that the convicts were seeking clemency, on his last day as governor is an act of cowardice.
