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'Atlas Shrugged' – 50 years later
Christian Science Monitor ^ | March 6, 2007 | Mark Skousen

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 ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: atlasshrugged; aynrand; objectivism
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To: abishai

Save your brain it was just what Rand used as a platform to spell out Objectiveism, wasn't really that interesting.


61 posted on 03/06/2007 4:53:08 PM PST by marlon
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To: cinives

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?


62 posted on 03/06/2007 5:00:34 PM PST by amchugh
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To: Xenalyte

"Still weird as hell."

Did you read the book or just view Hollywierd's interpretation?


63 posted on 03/06/2007 5:09:48 PM PST by Roccus (Fighting politicians IS the war on terror!)
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To: RWR8189; Abram; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; Allosaurs_r_us; amchugh; Americanwolf; ...
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
64 posted on 03/06/2007 5:14:19 PM PST by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: paulat

Angelina Jolie would be perfect for Lilian Rearden!


65 posted on 03/06/2007 5:23:51 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Remember the Alamo, Goliad and WACO, It is Time for a new San Jacinto)
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To: unkus
Who is John Gault?

I dunno, but John Galt is the hero of Atlas Shrugged.

And yes, I am nitpicking. :)

66 posted on 03/06/2007 5:25:52 PM PST by pbmaltzman
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To: Shion
Just finished Revolutionary Language, same theme updated for the information age, advocating a feasible incremental approach to going on strike.
67 posted on 03/06/2007 5:31:57 PM PST by TomSmedley (Calvinist, optimist, home schooling dad, exuberant husband, technical writer)
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To: abishai

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... ;)


68 posted on 03/06/2007 5:33:05 PM PST by RobRoy (Islam is a greater threat to the world today than Nazism was in 1938.)
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To: JohnGalt

ping


69 posted on 03/06/2007 5:34:17 PM PST by DocRock (What would Solomon Do?)
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To: RWR8189
Ayn Rand is often said to have been anti-communist by her admirers, other than her books did she ever take part in any public anti-communist effort? Join any organization or make specifically anti-Soviet public statements?
70 posted on 03/06/2007 5:39:08 PM PST by jordan8
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To: jordan8

IMO, her loudest statement was her defection from the USSR in 1925.


71 posted on 03/06/2007 5:44:07 PM PST by Roccus (Fighting politicians IS the war on terror!)
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To: William James

"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.


72 posted on 03/06/2007 5:53:59 PM PST by Shion (Hunter 2008! www.gohunter08.com)
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To: RWR8189
Today's most successful libertarian CEOs, such as John Mackey of Whole Foods Markets and Charles Koch of Koch Industries, have adopted the authentic spirit of capitalism that is more in keeping with Smith than Rand.

Theirs is a "stakeholder" philosophy that works within the system to fulfill the needs of customers, employees, shareholders, the community, and themselves. Their balanced business model of self- interest and public interest shows how the marketplace can grow globally in harmony with the interests of workers, capitalists, and the community – and can even displace bad government.

"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.

73 posted on 03/06/2007 6:03:22 PM PST by Redcloak (The 2nd Amendment isn't about sporting goods.)
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To: dakine

And still the best book I have ever read.


74 posted on 03/06/2007 6:03:56 PM PST by ShadowDancer (Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire.)
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To: RWR8189

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.


75 posted on 03/06/2007 6:11:29 PM PST by ArmstedFragg
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To: RWR8189

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.


76 posted on 03/06/2007 6:21:01 PM PST by ArmstedFragg
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To: Roccus

A little of both, but never finished either. I have a low tolerance for self-conscious elitist freaks.


77 posted on 03/06/2007 6:30:07 PM PST by Xenalyte (Anything is possible when you don't understand how anything happens.)
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To: Shion

"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.


78 posted on 03/06/2007 6:45:07 PM PST by William James
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To: paulat
...and who decides what is "fair?"

The government of course (the same government that legislates into existence almost all monopolies).

79 posted on 03/06/2007 7:01:13 PM PST by Onelifetogive (Tagline under construction...)
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To: William James

"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.


80 posted on 03/06/2007 7:53:05 PM PST by Shion (Hunter 2008! www.gohunter08.com)
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