A Callous Time

A retired Army friend, certainly a great guy, disappointed me when he moved to another county to downscale his home. Still saw him at work and had lunches occasionally. That was not the problem.

He had adopted a nice retreiver from the local animal shelter, named it Rusty, cared for and enjoyed his company for ten years. When we would go to his house, Rusty would greet him as his best friend. When Major X downsized, he returned his devoted Rusty to the animal shelter. In his mind, this act made perfect sense (his daughter was gone and married, and his wife did not care). He rationalized that Rusty had gotten ten better years of life than if he had not adopted him. Should the Major's wife actually take comfort in the scrapping of his pooch?

I had just met my first objectivist. Was his behavior considered a defining moment, an acceptable decision, or an applauded moment? It was simply his business (no one ever claimed otherwise).

Gus Van Horn, cat owner I believe, often philosophizes about objectivism on a more intellectual plane than Major X. Cat owners have a distinctly better, final option, too.