QUORA: "Have you noticed Trump's 'America first' has given license to a 'me first' mindset among Americans?"
I posted this answer:
Trump’s “America first” policy actually undermines America’s “me first” mindset.
Trump’s idea of America First is, in part, protectionist trade policies. Protectionism certainly doesn’t jibe with “me first,” if by that we mean the foundational American principle of the inalienable, equal individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—which means for each individual the freedom to live by her (or his) own judgement for her own sake so long as she deals with others through voluntary agreement and her actions don’t violate the same rights of others. After all, how does Trump’s version of “America first” promote the rights of American citizens to trade with citizens of other countries? Since Trump’s trade policies restrict these individual trade (freedom of association) rights, then “America first” actually diminishes, not promotes, “me first.”
Related Reading:
It’s MeFirst, or Slavery. Take Your Pick
QUORA *: ‘Is Ayn Rand wrong about altruism?’
[Of course, Rand was not merely against altruism. She was primarily for rational egoism and its peaceful social corollary, the trader principle.]
Books to Aid in Understanding Rational Selfishness
Duty vs. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
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