Me, Myself and I

Forget fen-phen, hand guns and the flesh-eating virus. The real danger to America is . . . volunteerism.

A life devoted to helping others is positively immoral and un-American, say members of the Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey, which opposes President Clinton’s campaign urging citizens to serve the needy. And they are spending big bucks right now, as states hold their own volunteer summits, to promote the Randian theory that doing good is “a perversion of morality.”

To sacrifice one’s own interests for the good of others is “undemocratic,” says institute spokesman Scott McConnell. “This is the land of opportunity, not the land of service.”

The objectivists, who follow the teachings of the late author Rand (“The Fountainhead”), believe that “happiness is man’s highest purpose.”

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