Rand was a genius, but like her disciple/worshiper Mike Mentzer, she was also incredibly misguided. Some tents of Objectivism make a good bit of sense, but I liken it to communism: it reads okay on paper, but it's a wreck waiting to happen when practiced to its fullest extent.
I do love what she had to say about appointing women to the highest political positions, though. Hilarious stuff
And in that clip, she has a point about many philosophies and religions' undue emphasis on the nobility apparently inherent to self-sacrifice. She goes on to call the consequences of that "evil," which I think is simply too broad. However, it can be in the right (wrong?) context. For instance, was an SS officer or kamikaze Jap* pilot ethical to lay down their lives for der Fuhrer/Emperor Hirohito?
*I refuse to accept that "Jap" is an ethnic slur. Calling an Englishman a "Brit" isn't insulting, or a Scotsman a "Scot." Calling a U.S. citizen an "American" isn't regarded an insult, either. What's the bloody difference? There is none, save for the fact that a bunch of people hated Japanese people and called them "Japs." Ooooo...
And to answer my own question, I'd say no, certainly not. Said officer and pilot probably left behind wives and children, people they probably could've supported after the war had they not chosen to selfishly throw themselves on the alter of martyrdom.
