I find Ayn Rand absolutely abhorrent and to use her repellent selfish ideology in this post after this horrible incident is beyond distasteful to me.
The guy who came in and stabbed this poor guy was probably mentally ill. To use him as an excuse to prop up the idea that freely given care and hospitality is wrong just blows my tiny mind.
What the Garden of Eden people do is brilliant and beautiful.
@sue-stevenson While I urge you and anyone to research objectivist ideology further to understand why self-interest is necessary and not nearly as abhorrent as blind altruism to society, I agree that this is no argument to change the mission of the GoE.
@ackza The most important piece of the ideology is the internal locus of control. It is up to every person to determine their personal values and to act in accordance to those values. GoE clearly feels it is in their best interest to serve their community in the manner of food and shelter and feel that what they donate is in excess of what they desire. I also hope that they are acknowledging the potential for people's reliance upon their charity and considering that impact on the community as well, but someone more familiar with the project like @littlescribe mentioned that often people will work to demonstrate gratitude/pay their debt. But bottom line is that those agreements do not concern you or me. I'm always glad to discuss with a fellow objectivist, as I believe it to be the most moral ideology, but it can often be twisted into "evil" by others, so I hope that you may grow in your understanding that the key tenant is that no person can determine for another what is in their best interest.