I stepped out of my narcissism today just enough to read a ton of comments posted in response to online newspaper articles. Posts today will reference them, only because I agree with the bulk, and some of the comments are a lot funnier than anything I would dare to write.

If my twisted memory serves, it was in the movie “Ode to Billie Joe,” that a wise Native American taught that what we hate in others is what we hate in ourselves. The remark puzzled me for forty-some years.

But finally, it is ringing true. Anybody who knows me will likely swear I never worked a day in my life, and my attempts to work always amount to “creating more work for others.”

And yet, my brain has sustained enough Ayn Rand poisoning to want to be a trader – to give in return for what I receive. My personal laziness, lack of initiative, and willingness to accept paychecks without exertion and subsidies from my poor old mother are indeed traits I hate in myself.

And so it is that when I see a bunch of people who don’t want to trade labor or goods, but only wish to occupy until their vague demands are met, I feel that same rush of anger I get when I think of my own parasitism.

Evidently, a lot of public commentators agree there is some kind of social contract requiring from each according to his abilities – or at least a wee bit of effort.