A Flashback to "Atlas Shrugged"

Objectivist Center ^ | 4/28/2004 | Adam Reed

[The Raven]

Although the government of North Korea now spins a different story, both initial Korean reports and American satellite photographs suggest that the devastating explosion on April 22 in Ryongchon, North Korea, was an eerie replay of the Taggart Tunnel train crash in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel "Atlas Shrugged." In Rand's novel, an incipient fascist dictatorship in America is stopped in its tracks by a strike of the men of the mind. In "Atlas Shrugged," as in Ryongchon, the hobbling of human minds by dictatorship brought about a return to the ancient technology of open-fire steam locomotives. In both, the immediate cause of the explosion was the collision between an open-fire steam locomotive and a train carrying explosive materials. In Rand's novel, the diesel engine that could have prevented the explosion was diverted to pull the private train of politician Chick Morrison. In Ryongchon, the diesel engine was used to pull the private train of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.

The technology of production and trade is a life-giving force only as long as it remains harnessed to the minds of men who give it life. When the judgment of the intellect is overwhelmed by the brute force that is the essence of dictatorship, that same technology becomes a danger, the destroyer of lives and avenger of destroyed minds. Fifty years after the publication of "Atlas Shrugged," the Soviet dictatorship that Ayn Rand fled for America is a nasty memory, the grave of tens of millions of extinguished lives. But even today, minds are stifled and lives buried in the Communist dictatorships of North Korea and Cuba, the theocratic dictatorships of Iran and Saudi Arabia, the fascist-kleptocratic dictatorships of China, Russia and Singapore, and the socialist dictatorships of Myanmar and Venezuela.

As Americans, we like to think that our government is in the business of protecting our lives and certainly would allow us to take the steps we judge as necessary to preserve our lives, health and well being. And yet, not long ago American writer Peter McWilliams died by choking on his own vomit because the government took away the marijuana that Peter grew to control the nausea of his chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Never mind that any thinking person would judge that this was a clear medical use of the drug necessary to preserve life. Thinking is not the way of most politicians. The same government has already taken steps that could cause millions of other sick people to suffer and die needlessly by preventing innovative Americans from using their minds to develop life-saving therapies. Specifically, the government has placed a near total ban on medical research with embryonic stem cells.

North Korea's replay in reality of a fictional incident that Ayn Rand described in "Atlas Shrugged" half a century ago should remind us of her message: Man's right to live by the judgment of his own mind is not an optional luxury. Man's right to live by the judgment of his own mind is a necessary precondition for human life. Where this right is denied, people die.

Adam Reed is a writer for the Objectivist Center and an Associate Professor of Information Systems at California State University, Los Angeles.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This editorial comment has been produced and distributed by The Objectivist Center. If you would like to reproduce or publish this op-ed, you may do so provided you include the biographical information found on this page. For more information, please contact The Objectivist Center.

If you are distributing electronically, the following text must be included after the selection:

Copyright, The Objectivist Center. For more information, please visit www.ObjectivistCenter.org.

[The Raven]

There's rumors that Atlas Shrugged will be a movie soon.

[blanknoone]

I am in general, and in most cases, specific agreement about the philosophy which underpins the libertarian party. I just wish they could back off the drugs issue. Of all the wrongs done to us by our government, the fact that you can't legally get high is about the lowest priority possible.

[Don W]

I agreed with the gist of most of what he said, but he lost me with:

The same government has already taken steps that could cause millions of other sick people to suffer and die needlessly by preventing innovative Americans from using their minds to develop life-saving therapies. Specifically, the government has placed a near total ban on medical research with embryonic stem cells.

ADULT stem cell research is where the research $ belongs!

[tkathy]

Legalize drugs and many more than just one person will die by "choking in their own vomit". Sadly, lots and lots of people die this way, mostly addicts of one kind or another.

[Darryl Newhart]

I just wish they could back off the drugs issue. Of all the wrongs done to us by our government, the fact that you can't legally get high is about the lowest priority possible.

It's not about 'getting high'.
It's about having sovereignty over ones personhood.

Frankly, the FDA should function only in an advisory role, and leave the decision making up to individuals as to what they ingest, apply or inhale.

[The Raven]

>>I just wish they could back off the drugs issue

I had the same thoughts - until I heard their reasoning.

The logic is that the Feds bent the laws to make hard drugs illegal. A constitutional amendment was required - in the same format as the prohibition amendment for alcohol.

We need to all follow the rules - otherwise we pick and choose our way out of the constitution.

[neutrino]

Bump, and here's hoping we see that movie soon!

[Old Sarge]

Of all the wrongs done to us by our government, the fact that you can't legally get high is about the lowest priority possible.

Not to single-issue Libbies; it's their #1 Priority.

Smoke Free Dope! Smoke Free Dope! All problems go away, if you just Smoke Free Dope!

[Old Sarge]

And how much are we willing to bet, "Ayn Rand: The Motion Picture" will be an anti-Bush/US/GOP tirade?

Will Micheal Moore be producing it? Or the Bloodworth-Thomasons?

[blanknoone]

Look, I agree on the issue. The government should not make decisions for citizens...including what they eat, drink, smoke or inject. But is that really the angle to take on the North Korean train crash? Is that really the best arguement to make here?

I agree with the libertarian philosophy. But I think a whole of Libertarians don't. And it is evidenced by how many very minor issues (motorcycle helemt laws, anyone?) dominate their agenda. Libs need to start addressing the threat that socialism faces to our country, culture and society. Of all the freedoms stripped by our government, legally getting high is just about the last and least importnat I would demand back. Even if I were to specifically address drugs...I would not highlight illegal narcotics, but all of the medical drugs tied up in testing red tape and unavailable to cure the ill. Or how the cost of that bureacracy dramatically reduces the incentives to actually produce drugs that save lives. And no, I don't think marijuana really falls in that category, despite the fact that the author found a case of someone choking on their own vomit.

Think about the juxtaposition of DPRK and the USA. There are millions of ways of showing the differences and how freedom works. Rather than address an area where we don't have freedom, why not use the opportunity to show that freedom works? The libertarians have a platform...but they have abandoned the philosophy that gave rise to it. And that is a very fundamental problem and why they flounder as a weak third party.

[Salman]

There's rumors that Atlas Shrugged will be a movie soon.

Atlas does not shrug, he gets converted or beaten down. Galt's Gulch cannot exist. And it's not just that the fantasy technology does not exist. If Atlas has children, unlike Rand's heroes, he goes along and gets along.

Otherwise it's this: Atlas Shrugged, one hour later

[bobo1]

It would be wonderful to see Atlas Shrugged made into a movie if it is true to the book. I read most of Rand's books 30 years ago while in college.

Contrary to some of the input, As long as I am not violating the natural rights of others, Leave me alone.

I do not care to make large amounts of money, nor do I care to pay for those that choose to make none. I am all programmed out. I will not force you not to drink, smoke, drug, or whatever, as long as you do not violate my rights.

The biggest problem that I see in Rand's writings is that she placed man in the center of a Godless world. Otherwise, she was right on.

The Christians will appeal to morality, that is their calling, I am one. God gave us free choice. Government gives us coercion. The smallest possible government is what is needed. Let the people decide. The founding fathers had it right.

Blessings, Bobo

[eno_]

Of all the wrongs done to us by our government, the fact that you can't legally get high is about the lowest priority possible.

If the price were not so high is dollars and in abuses of our rights that have onthing to do with getting high, I might agree. But everything from the militarization of police, property siezure and systemic corruption, and invasion of communications, medical, and financial privacy is all linked to the Drug War.

If the government could fight a Drug War without breaking so many of our other freedoms I would certainly be less opposed to it.

[buffyt]

Have you read that book? I read most of it, and then got Cliff Notes to get through the rest of it. So many characters, I needed help to keep them straight. I see so many of these things happening in our country, that were in Atlas. Great book. Should be read by EVERYONE! Also, the NAKED COMMUNIST. and TALES FROM THE LEFT COAST. and THE THIRD TERRORIST. amazon.com can usually get any book for you, even out of print ones, or check with local bookstores. Mine got THE THIRD TERRORIST for me in three days.

[eno_]

Actually, motorcycle helmets protect a lot less than you might think. Any sharp object, like the edge of a highway sign, will slice through a helmet.

I recently started wearing a helmet while skiing. My choice. But I respect the choice of others not to.

Interestingly, I got a nice scalp wound from a tree branch that went through my helmet's vents. If I wasn't wearing a helmet, I probably would not have skied through the narrow gap between two trees.

[corkoman]

Yup - as long as there are rascally totalitarians like old sarge there will be a struggle - liberty is a funny thing sarge - its not your call as you like to see it.

Good thing too.

[eno_]

Legalize drugs and many more than just one person will die by "choking in their own vomit". Sadly, lots and lots of people die this way, mostly addicts of one kind or another.

80-90% of addiction, morbidity, and mortality from drug use is due to alcohol. Legalizing drugs, even under the worst possible scenario, would not move that number more than 2 or 3 percentage points, and proabaly would make no measurable difference at all.

Legaliztion of marijuana, if it displaced any significant amount of alcohol use, would probably reduce deaths due to drug use.

[The Raven]

>>Atlas does not shrug, he gets converted or beaten down

Because it's allowed. We'd need a rewrite of the constitution and that ain't gonna happen.

[Misterioso]

This is from the WSJ article about Phil Anschutz that ran a week or so ago:

"For a brief time, Anschutz and Baldwin were excited about the prospect of filming Ayn Rand's epic novel Atlas Shrugged. They snapped up the movie rights for more than $200,000 in 2003, only to discover that the 1,075-page book's sprawling nature, long speeches and many subplots made it an extremely problematic film project. Anschutz insiders say it's an open question whether they will press on."

The project looks to be dead in the water.

[eno_]

Wimps. It's not like Tolkein made it easy for screenwriters.