Our First FReeper Book Club: Atlas Shrugged

A Publius Essay | 15 January 2009 | Publius

[Publius]

Over the past few weeks, Ayn Rand’s classic, Atlas Shrugged, has been mentioned in articles in the Wall Street Journal and among conservative and libertarian bloggers. Two questions are being debated by those who have read the book.

1. Are we living in a time line that follows the book?
2. What chapter are we in?

Besides those who have read the book, there are FReepers with little awareness of Rand and her work. Some are turned off by the length of her works of fiction. Some of a more religious bent have problems with Rand’s atheism. Some wish she had left the few sex scenes out. Some just think she’s a bad writer.

I would like to propose our first FReeper Book Club effort: A chance for a group of us to read Atlas Shrugged together, both old hands and newcomers to the book. Once this effort settles in, I or others might want to start FReeper Book Clubs dedicated to Forrest McDonald’s States’ Rights and the Union, or Alexis de Toqueville’s Democracy in America. I like the idea of an interleaved reading of both the “Federalist Papers” and “Anti-Federalist Papers” together in strict chronological order so as to see the point and counterpoint of the debate over the Constitution. I’ve picked Atlas Shrugged for starters because it’s a hot topic and it’s fun. Once we get into the habit of reading and discussing together, we can tackle the heavier stuff.

The book is divided into 30 chapters. I propose to post a thread on one chapter every Saturday, which would make 30 threads over a period of 30 weeks to cover the entire book. I’ll provide a short synopsis of the chapter, expound on certain themes and raise questions to stimulate debate. If FReeper Book Club members feel that a faster pace is better, we can settle on one.

Atlas and Me

I came to Atlas Shrugged via the usual method: I read it in high school. The bully who sat behind me and enjoyed pounding me at the Catholic prep school I attended in New Jersey exposed me to the book by hitting me on the head with it. Its weight made an immediate impression. Our sophomore English teacher was not teaching the book, and he suggested that the bully pound me with something of lesser weight, such as The Red Badge of Courage.

The English teacher panned the book, stating that it was the kind of book an immature person might enjoy, but a mature adult with experience of the world could not take Rand seriously. The solutions proposed by Atlas Shrugged were not realistic.

The vice principal, a priest from Brooklyn who believed in FDR, JFK, LBJ and God, in that order, excoriated Rand for writing “an anti-Christian epic” and broadly hinted that the bully was sinning by reading it. Better to hit someone over the head with it. The solutions proposed by Atlas Shrugged were evil.

I read the book anyway.

The Strange World of Atlas Shrugged

Rand’s book was written between 1945 and 1956 and published in 1957. During the postwar years, America saw massive changes in society and technology, and the shape of world politics shifted mightily. None of this is reflected in the book. Some of the differences between Rand’s world and our own are rather egregious and require comment.

• There was no Cold War. Nation after nation accepted some form of socialism without argument and took the title of “People’s State”. America drifted more slowly into socialism, and the book can be viewed as the story of how two brave entrepreneurs fought the final plunge into the abyss.
• America was frozen in time with respect to culture and technology. Television did not replace radio. Live classical music was still played on network radio.
• The Interstate Highway System, proposed by Eisenhower in 1956, was never built. This was the largest and greatest accomplishment of American socialism on our time line, but Rand didn’t see it coming. In the book, America was connected by a network of decaying two-lane roads.
• Commercial air travel did not take off. There is a hint that airlines were operating their own separate airports just as railroads operated their own separate stations before the concept of “union” stations came along in the Twenties. An executive who needed to fly got a pilot’s license and flew his own private plane.
• Railroads were still the main form of transportation, and passenger rail was thriving! Rand never thought of nationalizing passenger trains by creating Amtrak. The conversion from steam to diesel locomotives, a major event in railroading in the Fifties on our time line, went much more slowly in the book. Coal- and even wood-fired steam locomotives still plied the rails. Radio was not used in communication, instead relying on the older technology of telegraphs and phone boxes.
• Outside the cities, it was hard to find a place to make a long distance telephone call.
• American heavy industry did not flee the country to escape high labor costs because the rest of the world had preceded us into communism.
• Good industrialists branded their companies with their own names, such as Wyatt Oil, Rearden Steel, d’Anconia Copper and Mulligan Bank. Bad industrialists hid behind corporate names such as Associated Steel.
• Congress was now called the National Legislature, and the President was now called the Head of State. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment was even less operative than in our own time. Great violence had obviously been done to the Constitution. All power was vested in bureaucrats
• The can-do spirit of America was crushed. The ubiquitous cry of frustration was, “Who is John Galt?” In other words, “How can anyone hope to make anything better?” A key difference between America and the Third World has always been that when something breaks in America, it gets fixed expeditiously. Maintenance is understood and valued. In the Third World, it either never gets fixed, or it’s fixed when somebody damn well pleases. In the book, America was Third World.

The easiest way to explain these anomalies is to say that Rand lacked the scientific background to project technological change and simply dealt with the technology of her era while projecting political change. But then how did she project the use of ultrasound for Project Xylophone and the holographic projection that protected Galt’s Gulch? There is a strange mix of the old and the new. What marks a total departure from our reality is the change in politics and in the American character.

One can accept all this as artist’s license, but I tried to come up with my own logic for how Rand’s America came to this pass.

Alternative History: Trying the Harry Turtledove Approach

If one wanted to create an alternative history for the universe of Atlas Shrugged, one could start with the 4-way election of 1948. In this alternative history, Henry Wallace won the race, defeating Truman, Dewey and Thurmond, establishing a Labor government on the British model in America. The warning voices of Martin Dies, John Bricker, Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon were stilled.

Wallace wanted no cold war with the Soviets, and with the quick withdrawal of American forces from Europe, Germany was reunified under a communist People’s State government. The Soviet Union, now the People’s State of Russia, never geared up for war, settling instead for passive mediocrity. Britain never rejected Clement Atlee, and with the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a written constitution on the German model, the People’s State of England replaced the United Kingdom. In France, De Gaulle never came to power, and the Fourth Republic morphed into the People’s State of France.

In the Western Hemisphere, figures similar to Fidel Castro established the People’s State of Mexico and other communist countries in Central and South America.

America did not go all the way to People’s State status, however, although intellectuals worked hard toward that end. Instead, America became a gray, downtrodden country accepting an atmosphere of sad decay, much like England today. Americans accepted that things were hopeless and that nothing could be done. Feelings replaced facts. The very nature of reality was questioned.

It took only a decade of economic stasis, misguided politics and cultural pollution to create the hell described by Rand.

Some Thoughts on the Movie

A scriptwriter would have a hard time shrinking the story to fill a two or three hour time slot even if all the long speeches were eliminated. A miniseries for television would have served the book better.

This effort would be a production designer’s dream. I would point to John Vallone, who handled production design for Walter Hill’s 1984 classic, “Streets of Fire”. Vallone created a fascinating mix of Fifties and Eighties that had no parallel in real time. Something in the same vein would make the movie memorable, rather than setting it in the present or a future that looks like the present.

Let’s Get Started

I will build a ping list for our FReeper Book Club, so sign in on this thread. I’ll use the keyword “freeperbookclub” to mark these threads as they are posted.

Welcome to our first effort. Prepare to read and discuss.

[Doomonyou]

Are you in?

I'm in.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Yes. Again, not my favorite. I liked Fountainhead, loved Atlas, but Anthemn and We, the Living just about buried me. I get so involved. I’m a wimp. I can take the speeches in Atlas, I can weep over Pearl Buck, but the hopelessness of man just about put the last nail in the coffin.

[Publius]

In The Devil's Advocate, the US is now "The Democracy", the Republican Party has been outlawed, the Stars and Stripes have been replaced by the Red Star and the Constitution has been abrogated and banned.

A small secret group of people called the Minute Men infiltrate the government and oppress the American people until they are ready to rebel and restore the Republic, all the time knowing that the angry populace will kill them, and their heroism will never be known.

I first read it about 40 years ago and just recently re-read it.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Ping me when you’re ready.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

I must not have read it, although the title just sticks in my head. At this point in life, I’m lucky I can remember my passwords for all the various crap I need them for. Trying to remember that far back in my life is like trying to remember another person’s childhood — not very easy.

I know I went through stuff, I know I read stuff, but MAN, it’s like I’m seeing in now as someone else, if you know what I mean — if you don’t, I understand completely.

[cyborg]

I would like to be added to your book club list

[ElayneJ]

I’m in. Huge Ayn Rand fan here. I’m astonished at how closely life is imitating art with Atlas.
This is a good idea!

[ElayneJ]

I’m in. Huge Ayn Rand fan here. I’m astonished at how closely life is imitating art with Atlas.
This is a good idea!

[NewJerseyJoe]

Atlas Shrugged is the playbook for the next four years.
For both sides.

[George Smiley]

That's a toughie. He's never written a BAD book, although some are more arcane than others.

A Conflict of Visions if you want to see the philosophical underpinnings of liberal vs. conservative.

Vision of the Anointed is the practicum which was based on ACoV.

[KeepingFaith]

Please add me to the ping list. Thanks!

[Nonperson]

A Week in Galt's Gulch.

[JoeA]

Ping me, please.

[arbee4bush]

Count me in, please. I just started it for the first time right after the election in Nov. Put it down to read some Christmas gifts (Michael Barone’s “Our First Revolution” and others). Will tag along for the comments. Thanks

[Perfesser]

I first read Atlas Shrugged when I was 22 (46 years ago) and several times since. Learn something new every time. Sign me up.

[whodathunkit]

WWJGD ?

Add me to the list.

[Andonius_99]

Sign me up! I read the book once. Right now, I don’t have much time to read, but I listen to the audio book over and over while at work. I’m in the middle of Galt’s speech as we speak.

[MarkL]

Are you in?

I don't think so.

Mark

[Andonius_99]

Rutger Hauer as Ragnar Danneskjöld

I think Matt Letscher from the first Zorro movie would be a better pick for Danneskjöld.

[ronnied]

Please add me to this ping list.