Ayn Rand's Birthday

Late to the party (she was born Feb 2, 1905), but here is one of my favorite quotes from Atlas Shrugged, spoken by Hank Rearden, one of the greatest heroes in literature, defending himself in court:

“I work for nothing but my own profit—which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage.”

That one, simple — and unquestionably valid — paragraph, if understood and accepted, would alone wipe out 90% of the evils currently inflicted on us by the Federal and State governments, along with the underlying causes of them: the invalid moral views of most educators and the pundits in the chattering class.