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Posted on 03/06/2007 2:42:33 PM PST by RWR8189
When Ayn Rand finished writing "Atlas Shrugged" 50 years ago this month, she set off an intellectual shock wave that is still felt today. It's credited for helping to halt the communist tide and ushering in the currents of capitalism. Many readers say it transformed their lives. A 1991 poll rated it the second-most influential book (after the Bible) for Americans.
At one level, "Atlas Shrugged" is a steamy soap opera fused into a page- turning political thriller. At nearly 1,200 pages, it has to be. But the epic account of capitalist heroes versus collectivist villains is merely the vehicle for Ms. Rand's philosophical ideal: "man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."
In addition to founding her own philosophical system, objectivism, Rand is honored as the modern fountainhead of laissez-faire capitalism, and as an impassioned, uncompromising, and unapologetic proponent of reason, liberty, individualism, and rational self-interest.
There is much to commend, and much to condemn, in "Atlas Shrugged." Its object – to restore man to his rightful place in a free society – is wholesome. But its ethical basis – an inversion of the Christian values that predicate authentic capitalism – poisons its teachings.
Mixed lessons from Rand's heroes
Rand articulates like no other writer the evils of totalitarianism, interventionism, corporate welfarism, and the socialist mindset. "Atlas Shrugged" describes in wretched detail how collective "we" thinking and middle-of-the-road interventionism leads a nation down a road to serfdom. No one has written more persuasively about property rights, honest money (a gold-backed dollar), and the right of an individual to safeguard his wealth and property from the agents of coercion ("taxation is theft"). And long before Gordon Gekko, icon
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Save your brain it was just what Rand used as a platform to spell out Objectiveism, wasn't really that interesting.
And having a cartel or monopoly doesn't essentially create mandated outcomes? Only this time as totalitarian fiat, rather than legislation by a nominally accountable body. Would you want to live in a coal mining company town?
"Still weird as hell."
Did you read the book or just view Hollywierd's interpretation?
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
Angelina Jolie would be perfect for Lilian Rearden!
I dunno, but John Galt is the hero of Atlas Shrugged.
And yes, I am nitpicking. :)
I downloaded Atlas Shrugged off Limewire a few months ago. His speech is in there. I listened to it in my car on the way to work - and on my way home - and on my way to work the next day... ;)
ping
IMO, her loudest statement was her defection from the USSR in 1925.
"Capitalism without Christianity either leads to a tyrannical, inhumane order similar to how animals live. Or it leads to Marxism when the materialistic population rises up after figuring it can live better by having everything handed to it."
Really now.
I'd love to see some evidence directly tying lack of Christianity to tyrannical, inhumane orders and/or Marxism. I think you've bit off a bit more than you can chew on that one.
"Community", "public interest"... These are the cuckoo's chicks in the nest. As time passes, they get bigger and hungrier. This is what Rand is warning us against. Altruism is commendable for the individual, but not for a business. Left to feed, these fat, funny-looking, little birds will consume your investors' money. And allowing someone else to get fleeced isn't a very moral activity.
And still the best book I have ever read.
I re-read Atlas Shrugged, after a forty year absence, during the California power crisis a few years back. At the time, Governor Gray Davis was making speeches that were, almost word for word, the same as the utility 'explainers' are making in the early pages of the book. The parallels were remarkable.
If I wanted to provide someone with a short intro to Ayn, I'd give them a copy of her short story "Anthem". It's available for free reading here:
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ayn_Rand/Anthem/
Her "We the Living" is also a remarkable portrayal of the soul-stifling effects of communism. Very depressing ending, yet, somehow, not.
A little of both, but never finished either. I have a low tolerance for self-conscious elitist freaks.
"I'd love to see some evidence directly tying lack of Christianity to tyrannical, inhumane orders and/or Marxism. I think you've bit off a bit more than you can chew on that one."
Time will tell.
The government of course (the same government that legislates into existence almost all monopolies).
"Time will tell."
I'll conceed that you seem to be short on evidence at the moment.
Of course, since every non-Christian society currently or throughout history should have been tyrranical or barberic by your postulation it seems there should be plenty available for perusal.
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