The Paradox of Altruism

Many of you may have noticed that I dedicated this book to Ayn Rand. I have done this primarily because of her book Atlas Shrugged and the tremendous impact it had on my life and work. It is a very complex book with many messages, but the message that speaks to me the most is the impact of misdirected altruism, the manipulative power it can create in the wrong hands, and the ultimate destruction it can wreak on a society. It’s important to comment on this point now because it is critical to understand that we are not talking about a lack of caring here; in fact, quite the contrary is true.

There are people in the United States who need help, and some of them are unable to help themselves (this is far truer in other parts ...

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