A good society can be either narcissistic or outward-looking. Ayn Rand had an individualistic view that people should pursue their own self-interest and self-esteem through their work. Robert Bellah argued people must take responsibility for social institutions to address problems collectively. While Rand focused on individual goals and motives, Bellah believed people's lives are shaped by institutional forces and democracy can improve institutions for social problems. Both philosophies see a role for individualism and institutions in a functioning society.

1. Theories of a Good Society
Yana Kroytor
Essay 1
10/21/16

2. A good society consists of two broad categories, narcissistic and outward-looking. The
first usually involves a search for peace, harmony, and pleasure. The second is typically a more
individualistic view of a search for meaning. Many people think that having a society work
together will grow together, and others would think that being individualistic upon others is the
true self-esteem someone needs to be successful in life. James Stockinger writes a quote
explaining classical liberalism in the following way, “It is not at first with our own hands that we
pick the acorns and apples from the commonwealth of nature to nourish our own bodies. It is the
hands of other people that supply the needs of our bodies, both in infancy and beyond. For each
of us lives in . . . it is the hands of our people that lower us into the earth.”1 In Rand’s
philosophy, reality cannot be rewritten or escaped; it was informed instead. Once a person can
recognize the meaning of society, then they can define it. One of the real implications of a “good
society” that many people say is that it is freedom. One would say freedom is the right to spend
one’s life in one’s homestead. Others would say, it exists within institutions, like participating in
economic and political decisions that affect all of our lives. It is easier to understand why many
people retreat to their lives and forget about big institutions and problems, but they also have the
knowledge to live that way successfully without being affected by big institutions. Society will
benefit if everyone took care of themselves first before thinking of the bigger picture such as
globalization and being institutionalized.
Ayn Rand and Robert Bellah have different views on how a society or the people struggle
to find their personal human morality. Ayn Rand is ideally a champion of individual rights, and
she wants to protect the sovereignty of the individual as an end in himself. Rand has a very
1 Bellah, Robert N. The Good Society. New York: Knopf, 1991. 104.

3. individualistic point of view when it comes to human nature. She believes that those who live by
the judgment of their minds are willing to stand alone against tradition and popular opinion. A
person who resembles and struggles for the integrity of his creative work against every form of
social opposition is the perfect ideal individual that Rand desires. “Ayn Rand’s philosophy,
Objectivism, begins by embracing the fundamental fact that existence exists. The reality is, and
in the quest to live we must discover reality’s nature and learn to act successfully in it.”2
Comparing her perspectives to this quote and the quote mentioned, every individual has their line
of work that they must do that will benefit themselves by a social system that allows people to
live together peaceably, by voluntary trade, as independent equals, which is technically
capitalism.
When thinking of capitalism, many people think of a whole society working together to
benefit themselves in the long run. Robert Bellah would agree that as an American citizen,
people must take responsibility for the institutions if the individuals were to create a more
productive and morally conscious society. Bellah’s perspectives would fall into the more modern
world right now because many people today ignore the fact that there are problems in everyday
life. Although, instead of stopping the problem, they retreat back into their individualistic lives.
Robert Bellah explains in his book called, Good Society, that “he is challenging Americans to
take a good look at themselves. Faced with growing homelessness, rising unemployment,
crumbling highways, and impending ecological disaster, our response is one of apathy,
frustration, cynicism, and retreat into our private worlds.”3 The social problems confronting us
today, are primarily the result of failures of our institutions, and our response, largely the result
2 "Introduction to Objectivism." Ayn Rand's Ideas. Accessed October 19, 2016.
https://www.aynrand.org/ideas/overview.
3 Bellah, Robert N. The Good Society. New York: Knopf, 1991. 11.

4. of our inability to realize the degree to which our lives was shaped by institutional forces and the
extent to which we, as a democratic society, can develop these forces for the better. It is
tempting to think technology or technical expertise can solve problems that we face today. To
address these challenges, Bellah gives an understanding of the way a person should comprehend
these problems, and that is to improve our capacity to think about our institutions significantly.
Therefore, if the Conservatives do not stand for capitalism, they stand for and are nothing; they
have no goal, no direction, no political principles, no social ideals, no intellectual values, no
leadership to offer anyone.
Ayn Rand has a reputation of teaching individuals to rely on no one but themselves.
Many people would have a philosophy of supreme self-reliance devoted to the pursuit of
supreme self-interest, and this opinion appears to be an idealized version of core American
ideals; freedom from tyranny, hard work and individualism. It gives many people today a value
of how people will live and how they used to live. “When people behave in ways that violate the
axioms of rational choice, they are not behaving foolishly. They are giving researchers a glimpse
of the prosocial tendencies that made it possible for our species to survive and thrive…then and
today.”4 Many people laugh at the fact that people want “fairness,” many corporate industries
will reply with “economics is not about fairness.” The community will strive better in a way that
people are willing to retaliate vehemently when others behave selfishly. In fact, people are
prepared to pay the penalty for an opportunity to punish individuals who appear to be breaking
implicit rules of fairness in economic transactions. Living in today’s society, not everything will
4 “Column: This Is What Happens When You Take Ayn Rand Seriously.” PBS. Accessed
October 19, 2016.

5. be fair for everyone. Hence why focusing solemnly on an individual’s goals and morals, they
start to enlighten themselves for the greater good.
Ayn Rand has made very critical statements that impact the real world today. Many
people do work hard to earn what they deserve. The matter of the fact is that in this capitalistic
society, if people can afford it, then they can have it, whether it is property, money, and savings.
Some people can relate to that fact almost entirely, and personally, I am one of those people. My
family grew up in the poorest country in Europe. The way to live is by working hard and trusting
yourself that you are doing the right thing. That behavior stuck even when we came to America.
Ayn Rand believes that you have to work hard to achieve a life of purpose and productiveness,
you will pursue your happiness as your highest noble aim. That is all my family ever wanted was
happiness, and we found it by working hard. For example, those who work hard in school should
be able to get into a prestige college because their hard work paid off. If education were free,
there would be no objective or motive to work for their goal. The reality, reason, self-interest,
and capitalism are what this society needs to fix critical problems.
Many people who rise above others are the ones making a profit, the ones that understand
how to work with institutions and the economics of their society. Trading and profiting off of
something a person is good at is one way someone can benefit individualistically in an
institutionalized society. For instance, my family of four owns three businesses each. Profiting
off of what they make daily and understanding what the community wants. Those people who
know how to have self-reasoning and understanding how capitalism works will be better off than
most. She explains in her book, The Virtue of Selfishness, “In order to deal with reality
successfully - to pursue and achieve the values which his life requires - man needs self-esteem;

6. he needs to be confident of his efficacy and worth.”5 Rand specifies that to truly pursue and
achieve the values you have; you need self-esteem and confidence. It is one thing that every
society needs are motives. Individual motives and group motives can all drive a society to a
better place economically and psychologically.
From the critique of classical liberalism, sociologist James Stockinger writes the
following, “It is not at first with our own hands that we pick the acorns and apples from the
commonwealth of nature to nourish our own bodies. It is the hands of other people that supply
the needs of our bodies, both in infancy and beyond. For each of us lives in . . . it is the hands of
our people that lower us into the earth.” What can society learn from individualism is that the
whole world is a domino effect or in other words a chain reaction that involves every single
person in a community or the world. In this quote, everyone has a particular job that will
voluntarily interfere in a positive or negative way in a person’s life. Analyzing the quote deeper
clearly shows that each has their set of goals, morals, a job, and a set incentive. Everyone will
help one another so many times in their lives that people do not notice that someone’s individual
life, what they do on a daily basis, can change the way someone lives theirs. From Ayn Rand and
Robert Bellah, their philosophies both incorporate into society equally and can relate to the real
problems of society. Conservatism is a cultural and political tendency that sees the past as
importantly superior to the present, that respects tradition, and that is cautious about cultural
change. Tradition for many people is an important part of their lives and conservatives stand for
traditional morality. They think it has an emphasis on private initiative movements and
intellectualism. There is much that is right in the American tradition. America does stand for
5 Rand, Ayn, and Nathaniel Branden. The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism. New
York: Signet/ New American Library, 1970. 70.

7. individual freedom in its core ideas. America is the country of a self-made man. Much is true
about conservatism, too: its ethic of personal responsibility, for instance, and its respect for the
Constitution. Reason and the facts can only defend these values. Some points and the most
important aspects of pure happiness in an individual’s life is that sense of self-esteem and praise
for their work. Many people should reject the politics of “national greatness” and “national
goals” and embrace the American recognition of the importance of individual liberty. Ayn Rand
was always correct.