Posted on 07/04/2009 10:32:05 AM PDT by GoodDay
Despite a number of differences I have with Ayn Rand on issues of religion and philosophy, her 1957 magnum opus, "Atlas Shrugged," definitely steered me away from the leftist upbringing I had, and introduced me to the world of conservative ideas and authors: Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Milton Friedman, Isabel Paterson, and many others.
Universally panned by literary critics of the day, "Atlas" was, nevertheless, a bestseller in 1957, and continued to sell about 100,000 copies a year for 51 consecutive years. 52 years later -- just after the inauguration of zerobama -- "Atlas" has apparently tripled its sales and has been flying off the shelves at bookstores.
For those who have never read it, "Atlas Shrugged" -- originally titled in its draft form "The Strike" -- is about a mixed-economy United States falling rapidly into full-fledged socialism. As it does so, all the highly competent people of individual accomplishment -- in business, science, and the arts -- mysteriously start to resign their positions, quit their jobs...and disappear. Naturally, the disappearance of these achievers -- these "Atlases" whose productivity carries the rest of the world -- causes the crash of the economy and society in general to occur ever more rapidly. Why these people are disappearing and where they are going is the core of the plot...which I certainly won't give away. Love her style of writing or hate it, "Atlas Shrugged" is relevant and essential reading today.
I read it twice in rapid succession in high school, lo these many years, and am now rereading it in light of the aggressive attempts at a socialist coup in our country. There's a passage toward the beginning of the novel that flabbergasted me, since it predicts with great accuracy the "bailout mentality" started by Bush and continued and augmented under zerobama. The passage also describes how industry is complicit with government in its own regulation and what it expects to gain from it (i.e., protection from competition).
The scene has to do with attempts to regulate the railroads, an industry that plays a starring dramatic role in the novel, as well as being an effective visual metaphor for goal-oriented achievement in general.
Here is an excerpt of Miss Rand's description of the regulation from "Atlas Shrugged":
__________________________________________________
"The proposal which they passed was known as the 'Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule.' When they voted for it, the members of the National Alliance of Railroads sat in a large hall in the deepending twilight of a late autumn evening and did not look at one another . . .
. . . No railroad was mentioned by name in the speeches that preceded the voting. The speeches dealt only with the public welfare. It was said that while the public welfare was threatened by shortages of transportation, railroads were destroying one another through vicious competition, on 'the brutal policy of dog-eat-dog.' While there existed blighted areas where rail service had been discontinued, there existed at the same time, large regions where two or more railroads were competing for a traffic barely sufficient for one. It was said that there were great opportunities for younger railroads in the blighted areas. While it was true that such areas offered little economic incentive at present, a public-spirited railroad, it was said, would undertake to provide transportation for the struggling inhabitants, since the prime purpose of a railroad was public service, not profit.
Then it was said that large, established railroad systems were essential to the public welfare; and that the collapse of one of them would be a national catastrophe; and that if one such system had happened to sustain a crushing loss in a public-spirited attempt to contribute to international good will, it was entitled to public support to help it survive the blow . . .
. . . The Anti-dog-eat-dog-Rule was described as a measure of 'voluntary self-regulation' intended 'the better to enforce' the laws long since passed by the country's Legislature. The Rule provided that the members of the National Alliance of Railroads were forbidden to engage in practices defined as 'destructive competition'; that in regions declared to be restricted, no more than one railroad would be permitted to operate; that in such regions, seniority belonged to the oldest railroad now operating there, and that the newcomers, who had encroached unfairly upon its territory, would suspend operations within nine months after being so ordered; that the Executive Board of the National Alliance of Railroads was empowered to decide, at its sole discretion, which regions were to be restricted . . ."
As a man of similar sentiments, I urge you to put on your flame suit.
” . . . introduced me to the world of conservative ideas and authors: Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Milton Friedman, Isabel Paterson, and many others”
It is a tragedy that Austrian economics is not taught anywhere and that Ludwig von Mises is not a household name.
I also read AS about 4 times. She was under-rated as a philosopher. But she is just dead wrong about things. Human beings are part of a society of other humans and we are not islands.
Plus, if the leading “capitalists” in our country go on strike, HALLELUJAH!!!!! Worthless bunch of overpaid parasites. Plus they could not live on beans and hamburger meat. Heck, most of what they do is for the appearance anyway.
parsy, who just found out Baron Von Steuben was gay.
Baron Von Steuben was gay. NO!
Let the Statists flame away.
Oh yes. I had the History channel on and they said something about him being too familiar with young men, or something like that. So I googled it. Yep. He was “gay as a goose.”
parsy, who is 55 and still learning
Ping
4 later
Are geese gay? Who knew? lol
I read something about Prussian officer life a few years ago. It was a bio of some Prussian king and the Prussian officers were all bonded more with each other and their military carrers than they were with their wives and families. Their careers were their lives.
I also take pronouncements of homosexuality against someone long dead who can not speak for themselves with a large grain of salt. Did the History Channel offer any proof? Letter, court papers, etc? Homosexuals have a bad habit of using the reputations of pothers to try to elevate themselves and their lifestyle.
bookmark
I went to web and googled it. Seems pretty solid to me. Oh, well, I guess they didn’t ask in those days and he didn’t tell.
parsy, who is still shaking his head
“But she is just dead wrong about things. Human beings are part of a society of other humans and we are not islands.”
It’s precisely because human beings are NOT islands and ARE part of a society of other humans that we must deal with one another as VOLUNTARY TRADERS and not (as she would say) as MOOCHERS and LOOTERS.
In fact, it is the tyranny of socialism that forces human beings to operate as economically autistic islands. She was “dead right” about all of that.
“It is a tragedy that Austrian economics is not taught anywhere and that Ludwig von Mises is not a household name.”
The Mises Institute (www.mises.org) has excellent self-study materials: DVDs, MP3s, study guides, etc. I also recommend a visit to www.capitalism.net, economist George Reisman’s site, and purchasing his 10 CD set of lectures on economics. Reisman was a student of Mises at NYU.
I started the book yesterday. I read that paragraph that you mention and pulled out my highlighter and began highlighting there! What a book!
Did some more reading. One site said it was inconclusive. Most say otherwise. Now Benedict Arnold is messing around with a chick in Philly.
parsy, who will keep an open mind about it
Our country does not exist so that some among us can pile up huge fortunes, often at the expense of others. Gov’t is a necessary evil and if granted too much power, will always trend toward absolute power. That doesn’t equate into a no-limit poker game being the best alternative.
But if you like the idea of a country of haves and have nots, go south to Mexico or some other 3rd world country. Our soldiers are dying for “freedom”, not just the freedom of a few to make piles of money
parsy, who thinks Rand is smart but lacks common sense
bookmark
It's not the statists you have to worry about; it's the Objectivist Wannabes and Libertarians.
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