This does not mean that if you have a gift for cheating and lying that you should be allowed to use those gifts to cheat others. This would be an example of violating the rights of others to get what you want.
However, anything you do to sustain your life should be yours to keep as long as you didn't violate someone else's rights to get it.
A common argument is one that says that fine, sustinence, but what about more than that? Shouldn't you be forced to give more than a certain amount to others who have less?
In a word- NO. Our first premise is that no one has the right to demand the life of others for their own life. The right to live as you rationally see fit is necessary for you to have a right to live.
Also, anyone or any organization that would distribute that to someone else would be by nature violating your right to survive as best you can according to the tools you have.
They are in effect causing you to work as a slave in order to support someone else.
According to Ayn Rand, there are only two ways in which people exchange goods and services:
1) by mutual trade as equals (this includes time for wages, money for goods, or services for emotional fulfillment)
2) by force - this renders one party slave to the other and says that the one being forced to give is less of a person than the one who is receiving.
Why should someone be forced to part with their possessions simply because you don't have it? That is irrational.
