Posted on 01/13/2022 4:14:51 AM PST by MtnClimber
For most of my adult life I’ve been told about Ayn Rand’s famous novel…but had no idea what it was about. It was particularly popular among my Libertarian buddies. So, I finally ordered a copy…and when it came, I had to update the prescription for my reading glasses, because it’s over a thousand pages in nine-point type.
Early on I was able to kind of get a handle on what it was about. There are basically two kinds of people: problem solvers or innovators who are constantly trying to make things work better…and cronies, who have an overwhelming sense of entitlement and who ferociously cling to the status quo.
Not much later, the story began to creep me out. Not because of some quirky aspect of the story…but, due to our current pandemic. I was seeing Rand’s vision of authoritarian cronyism taking place right before my eyes. In the story, first published in 1957, crony bureaucrats assume control of businesses via some kind of vague government policy…and, guess what(?)…shortages of just about everything started happening. We now call these “supply chain” problems. The story mentioned black marketeers that snuck around under the radar in order to fill in some of the gaps.
Rand was born Alisa Rosenbaum in 1905, in St. Petersburg, Russia. When she was twelve, Lenin got off a train in her city…and zealous cronies took over her world. At the age of 21 she came to America. Eventually to become a Hollywood screen writer. By 1957, she was already an established novelist…and, now it seems, that she was also exceptionally prescient. Had I read this book more than two years ago, this may not have occurred to me.
Various concepts are presented in the story. The “Equalization of Opportunity Bill” and “The State Science Institute” are eerily...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Speaking of books written by excellent FReepers which were generated by the discussions here on Free Republic, there is this one by Alamo Girl and Betty Boop:
Don’t Let Science Get You Down, Timothy: A Light-hearted (but Deadly Serious) Dialogue on Science, Faith, and Culture Paperback – January 27, 2007
by Jean Drew (Author), Sandi Venable (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Science-Down-Timothy-Light-hearted/dp/1430304693
Loud Mime has a book, as have prolific authors like LS and Travis McGee. In its early days, FR was a fertile field for authors.
Many thanks for all the great responses. I regret that I never noticed the early book club reading of Atlas but I will follow up on the suggest of picking up “Who is John Galt: A Navigational Guide to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged”.
Thanks again.
I’ve been re-reading the book, and it’s better than ever. The discussion topics are more relevant today than they were 9 years ago.
When I bought your book, it was newly published. I gave it to my son as a gift. Later I also found that my gift included a Kindle version for myself. That was very cool, a ‘Twofer.’
Thank you. Buy a few hundred for your friends (LOL). Billthedrill and I could use the royalties.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2316675/posts
Post number 2 gives a chapter by chapter analysis..
“Do you really think we want those laws observed?” Said Dr. Ferris. We want them broken. You better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against - then you’ll know this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick and you’d better get wise to it. Theres no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there arent enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? Whats there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that’s the system Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, Chapter 3, Page 404
What do you think your response would have been if your parents had replied, “You have not become the child we would have chosen”?
equality under the law = equality of opportunity
And same to you, Lurker. Same to you.
No, Hu’s on the phone!
Jordan Peterson has had some great lectures where he talks about inequality.
It is the state of nature. Nobody is ever equal. Animal hierarchies work the same way, and just as savagely, or even more so.
He says that capitalism does indeed have inequalities, but so the the utopias they propose, and those are even worse, with greater inequalities covering vaster numbers of people.
His point is, hierarchies are not a construct of man, they are inherent to nature, and we are part of that.
IMO, the principle he wanted to live by was the same one all real conservatives want to live by: We want the government to leave us alone.
“What do you think your response would have been if your parents had replied, “You have not become the child we would have chosen”?”
I would have congratulated them on their first moment of honesty.
;-)
Agree
Kindled — thank y’all.
That’s rich, lol!
XD
Yeah, the Galt monologue near the end was like 40 pages long! Took me 6 months to get through it!
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