"Atlas Shrugged" in the Business School

The Autonomist ^ | 5/23/04 | Edward W. Younkins

[BraveMan]

I've read it four times, and cannot think of a single sentence that is irrelevant to the entire plot.

Some of the diatribes of the character John Galt could be abridged with little loss, IMHO . . .

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post, links.

[Hank Kerchief]

This is just to thank those who acknowledge this post and made brief comments, such as Pulius' 'A = A'. I have not commented on all the posts, but appreciate them all.

aynrandfreak, I'm glad you liked the synopsis.

BipolarBob, Atlas Shrugged is a thick book, but worth the effort, yes; but it is not such an effort for some. My wife has read it dozens of times (but then she reads from five to ten books a week).

Zevonismymuse, My 29 year old son quotes this book constantly. Be proud!

gorush, "Atlas Shrugged", which I read for the first time at an early age, is still my favorite. If you haven't, you must. Yes!

P.O.E., Except for Rand's plot points of women giving themselves to the "ideal man" outside wedlock, I heartily endorse Atlas Shrugged. You are right. Wheat does not come without chaff, however.

Socratic, One-third of this book could easily be edited out ... no doubt, and it would have satisfied those whose attention spans hardly extend beyond the next "play" or sound-bight. For the rest of us, there is nothing in Atlas that is not essential to its fullest enjoyment.

musical_airman, It should be required reading in the publik skool system. Yes! I like you tagline.

KarlInOhio, Authors are the creators while editors are the looters and moochers ... Frequently, but not always.

Chu Gary, With apologies to the religious, "Atlas Shrugged" is the greatest book ever written. According to the Library of Congress, after the Bible, Atlas Shrugged is the most popular book of all time.

Fred Hayek, The Russian finance minister one time said that Rand should be required reading in universities. What a difference two decades make. It isn't, however, and Russia is going backward. Did you know, Rand did not care for Hayek?

Mr.Atos, More interesting is the fact that it is not [required reading for High School seniors]... and that Rand is never mentioned once in a typical American Lit. curriculum. Yes, a damn shame too. But do not expect American public school teachers to recommend their students read what will reveal their own uselessness to those students. Thanks for the always interesting comments.

KarlInOhio, While reading a book on the Great Depression, I finally realized what that the collapse described in Atlas Shrugged is essentially the depression without the Supreme Court stepping in to declare as unconstitutional early New Deal projects like the National Recovery Administration. The ridiculous projects, government bureaus, the businessmen happily going along with the program if it meant a chance to have the feds crush a competitor and even the names of the villains sound like the New Deal. Yes. The realism of Atlas is invisible only to those who hate reality.

beavus, It seems silly from the perspective of a woman, but it sure is a motivator for men to imitate the "ideal man". That should at least raise the caliber of men available; why would that be silly to women?

kittymyrib, But the problem of anti-business bias begins much earlier than high school. Saturday morning cartoons, after-school programs, and elementary school science texts push the enviro-nazi gospel that paints business as bad and enviro-nazis/government as saving the world, so children are brain-washed long before high school. Oh yes. How many parents are ignorant of that, and how many plunk their children in front of the great socialist propaganda machine, and then cannot figure out how their children ever got all those wrong ideas.

Zon, Though the polarity in college education is lopsidedly PC-status quo it wouldn't be if elementary education hadn't started that path. Yes. Thanks for the John Taylor Gatto links. A great man fighting a loosing battle. The problem is not how public schools are run, the problem is public schools.

Hank

[Hank Kerchief]

Am I the only one surprised a Professor at Wheeling Jesuit University would consider using this text?

Apparently!

Why would you be surprised? It is not being used in a theology course. It is the principles if individual responsibility, integrity, courage, and strenghth of character as opposed to the collectivist, socialist, amorality of the day, in business and the world of finance and economics, the book is being used to promote and illustrate. Are Catholics opposed to those things?

Hank

[BipolarBob]

It was a documentary on Ayn Rand. I do not remember the station or exact title, but it had her name in it. She admitted to affairs. She said her husband "understood", but said it in such a way as to cause doubt she really believed it or cared. I can only guess at the time, but would surmise the interview was in early sixties.

[Socratic]

Excellent homepage - I've bookmarked it. But, your critique of me is similar to what I read on your homepage under the topic of "Proof." Aristotle's failure at science vs Galileo's success is the dichotomy of thought vs experiment. "A=A" and verbose=verbose.

[BraveMan]

The most insidious lie is that which is mixed with a large measure of truth. Principles of individual responsibility, integrity, courage, strength of character, et al, are not traits abhorrent to God. Many are the biblical verses that bear this out.

Ayn Rand, through Atlas Shrugged, denounces the idea of a creator, instead promoting the strong willed capitalist as her Supreme Being, bereft of any need for a creator. While that in and of itself does not surprise me given Ayn Rand's longstanding atheism, I find its acceptance puzzling, its not being used in a theology course notwithstanding.

To answer your question and bite at your bait, I would not imagine Catholics opposed to traits such as individual responsibility, integrity, courage and strength of character. Nor the Lutherans, Protestants, Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, or believers of any stripe.

[Fred Hayek]

Rand did not like Hayek, however she did apparently like von Mises. I have my disagreements with Rand, one of them being her atheism (however I did find out later the F.A. von Hayek was not a particularly religious man - an understatement. von Hayek was however influenced by Edmund Burke - a Scottish Presbyterian.) Rand was correct in pointing out how state control, political correctness, and rampant relativism snuffs the individual spirit. An example of the rampant relativism is in "Atlas Shrugged", the description of the train passengers just before the train collides in the tunnel. The descriptions of each of their worldviews (to the point of denying reality) is much like what had been taught in liberal arts universities for the past two decades. I don't think Rand presents much of a constructive solution however, that is more presented by von Hayek, von Mises, Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams.

About the Russian finance minister's comment - decades ago that would have gotten him fired in disgrace, further back either sent to the GULAG or shot in the basement of Lefortovo Prison. I don't think too many people there were listening to the comment. There is still too much influence in business held by the Mafiya (this I hear from colleagues in the oil business. Many of the Mafiya goons are former KGB hacks, and function much like Rand's looters). I am also still skeptical about Putin, with the recent evidence Iraqi (Saddam regime) oil bribes to Russian officials, etc.

[Publius]

I stopped at B. Dalton at the Northgate mall while I was on my way to a classical music lecture at the University of Washington, and I replaced my old cheap, worn-out paperback of Atlas Shrugged with a new top-of-the-line copy. Expensive, but it should last me a while. Thanks for motivating me.

While continuing on to the lecture at the UW Music School, I turned on KING-FM and caught the last strains of Richard Halley's 4th Piano Concerto...

[Zon]

The problem is not how public schools are run, the problem is public schools.

That's a fact.

An excerpt from a recent post:

"This wouldn't happen in free market education. At most it would be be a tiny fraction of what it is with the current public education/indoctrination system...." 
High school term-paper sale targeted

The problem is people corrupting the education process. That it's done via public school system is secondary. When I think of a person that has a passion for creating a system for education they should come to realize that free market competition is their best option for pushing the passion envelope. No doubt many people have started out with great drive and passion yet along the way unbeknownst to themselves is the reason why the fulfillment experienced falls short of that at the outset. ...Yet it should be increasingly more fulfilling.

"I live for the day" when passionate teachers realize that parasitical elites that proclaim their concern and benevolence for children are in reality harming innocent children. And exposed for their inversion of justice when they vilify passionate teachers that buck the establishment status quo.

[SauronOfMordor]

Thanks for your comments re: eldest daughter. I'm quite proud of her. She's been homeschooled these past 8 years, and next year is planning to start college. I've kept her away from people who might want to squash her, until now I judge she's ready to give some people hell.

Besides Atlas Shrugged, her curriculum has included "The Black Book of Communism" and The Discovery of Freedom by Rose Wilder Lane (author of the "Little House on the Prairie" series of childrens books), and the Federalist Papers. I'm going to also have her read Locke and a few others before the professors get her.

[Misterioso]

I think I am familiar with all her TV appearances and I doubt this one occurred. But I could be wrong.

[Publius]

Now that I'm re-reading Atlas Shrugged, I'm wondering if you would like to start discussion threads on the book, chapter by chapter. It might draw new readers to an old classic.

[Hank Kerchief]

Publius,

I'm wondering if you would like to start discussion threads on the book, chapter by chapter. It might draw new readers to an old classic.

I very much like the idea, but I do not have the time at the moment to do it justice. I would be happy to participate in just such a discussion, and might be able to interest some others who are really authorities on Rand and Atlas to participate.

Why wouldn't you like to start the discussion group? I think it would take some work, but it would be interesting, if you have the time.

Very good idea. Let me know your thoughts, and in the meantime I will see if I can interest some others.

Hank