גלעד, ברוך הבא הביתה

The individual has won over the public interest today. While some people might worry that Israel has increased its vulnerability by doing this deal over Gilad Shalit, it's still very comforting to see the importance placed by Israel on each and every individual not just the group as a whole. It's hard not to remember how Ayn Rand described the common good:

So long as a concept such as “the public interest” (or the “common good”) is regarded as a valid principle to guide legislation—lobbies and pressure groups will necessarily continue to exist. Since there is no such entity as “the public,” since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea that “the public interest” supersedes private interests and rights, can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others.

If so, then all men and all private groups have to fight to the death for the privilege of being regarded as “the public.” The government’s policy has to swing like an erratic pendulum from group to group, hitting some and favoring others, at the whim of any given moment—and so grotesque a profession as lobbying (selling “influence”) becomes a full-time job. If parasitism, favoritism, corruption, and greed for the unearned did not exist, a mixed economy would bring them into existence.

Golda Meir used to say that peace will be achieved in the Middle East when Arabs love their children more than they hate Jews. Israel has shown that they love their children 1,027 times more than they hate their killers. How long will it take for Palestinians to start loving their children?