Posted on 02/28/2009 7:49:58 AM PST by Publius
Synopsis
We meet Mr. Mowen of Amalgamated Switch and Signal of Connecticut, who needs training from Rearden’s men before he can handle Rearden Metal, all the while bleating about whether the metal is real or a fraud.
In Colorado, Dagny is having problems with the Rio Norte Line. Ben Nealy isn’t up to the job, and she and Hank have had to buy up bankrupt companies and shuttered plants to make the necessary equipment. Her chief engineer balks at reinforcing an ancient bridge with Rearden Metal.
Ellis Wyatt shows up and gives Dagny some good advice on upgrading the facilities for Nealy’s crew. Dagny takes Nealy into his work car and tells him what is to be done and how.
Hank Rearden arrives in his new car, a Hammond of Colorado, and his attitude toward Dagny is back to where it was when they were working together at his steel mill. They spar verbally, and Dagny is pleased at her emotions. Hank designs a new bridge of Rearden Metal on the spot with an estimated cost of less than half what her chief engineer has projected. He intends to confront the doubts about the safety of Rearden Metal by building an entire bridge out of it.
Hank is in Colorado looking for a copper mine because he doesn’t want to deal with Francisco. Hank and Dagny have a sense of accomplishment, but when Dagny asks Hank for a lift in his plane to New York, Hank tells her he is flying to Minnesota. When she shows up at the local airport and finds there are no flights out that day, she discovers that Rearden has taken off for New York after all.
Back in New York, Dagny and Jim go to a dinner and conference at the New York Business Council where Dagny is scheduled to speak about Rearden Metal. Jim is in a tizzy. The National Council of Metal Industries, headed by Orren Boyle, has condemned it as a threat to public safety. The union is not sure it wants its members to work with it. A convention of grade school teachers in New Mexico has passed a resolution that children should not be permitted to ride the Rio Norte Line because of it. As Jim complains, Dagny notices that every good, reliable piece of equipment on the streets of New York has originated in Colorado.
Dagny is furious to discover that Jim has tried to get Dan Conway to sell his railroad to Taggart Transcontinental; Jim’s rationale was to use Phoenix-Durango’s steel on the Rio Norte Line to avoid using Rearden Metal altogether. Jim wants to bid for Conway’s rail, but his looter friends at the National Alliance of Railroads are all attempting to get their own hands on it.
But it gets worse when Dagny discovers that she is there tonight to debate Bertram Scudder on nationwide radio on the topic, “Is Rearden Metal a lethal product of greed?” Dagny says the question is not debatable, and she jumps out of the car. She takes refuge in a diner in the shadow of a deserted ruin of an office building and orders coffee. An old bum gives Dagny a sermon on nihilism; in the middle of it the counter boy comments, “Who is John Galt?” Another bum tells Dagny yet another legend of Galt, this one about finding a fountain of youth and being unable to bring it back.
Dr. Potter of the State Science Institute sits in Hank Rearden’s office and asks him not to upset the economy by introducing Rearden Metal. Hank is not bothered by the disapproval of his metal by the Institute. Potter believes that if the metal is not a physical danger, it’s a social danger to the country. He offers to buy the rights to the metal from Rearden for a lot of government money to keep it off the market. Rearden refuses, and Potter issues a veiled threat about Rearden needing friends in politics and government.
Mr. Mowen bails from the project and refuses to make any more switches of Rearden Metal because too many people don’t like it.
Dagny discovers from Eddie Willlers that the State Science Institute has warned people against using Rearden Metal but has not really said why. Taggart stock has crashed, Nealy has quit and the union won’t let its members work with the metal.
Dagny visits the Institute in New Hampshire to meet with Dr. Robert Stadler, once the head of the Physics Department at Patrick Henry University and one of the nation’s leading scientists. Stadler has not even read the Institute’s report on Rearden Metal. He knows that there is nothing wrong with it but says that there are other “non scientific” factors. He is concerned that the Institute, with all its government funding, has not been able to come up with anything useful. But Rearden did, and that makes the Institute look bad. The survival of the Institute is more important than the survival of Hank Rearden.
Stadler tells Dagny of the three star students he and Hugh Akston shared at Patrick Henry University. One star was Francisco, the other was Ragnar Danneskjøld – and the third was a man who is probably a second assistant bookkeeper somewhere. (No spoilers please!)
Dagny finds a boozed-up Jim hiding at the old Taggart estate on the Hudson. Jim has been using his pull in DC, first to get the government to seize Dan Conway’s railroad, and then to convince the Alliance to let Conway run his line for another year. But Conway has refused. Dagny tells him she is going to start her own company and build the Rio Norte Line for Taggart Transcontinental on a turnkey basis. Eddie Willers will take over Operations. Dagny will call her company the John Galt Line.
But Francisco will not help fund the line, nor will he tell Dagny why. But he hints that her premises are wrong and that she must reach the correct conclusion herself. When Dagny suggests that she crawl, Francisco comes over to her and tenderly kisses her hand. Realizing he has given away too much, he puts on the act of a cad. He is horrified to discover that Dagny is going to name the line after John Galt, and he tells her that Galt will come to claim it.
Dagny meets with Hank to confirm the orders for the John Galt Line. The financiers are the Colorado industrialists whom the line will serve. Even Ken Danagger of the Pennsylvania coal company is in, and Hank signs on. Wyatt and Danagger have already agreed to purchase Rearden Metal simply because of the State Science Institute’s partial condemnation of it. Stockton Foundry of Colorado is going to finish the switches that Mowen wouldn’t make. The union won’t try to stop the line because there are so few union jobs available.
While Dagny reads the structural specifications for the bridge, Hank indulges in a violent sexual fantasy about her.
An Atlantic Southern freight train carrying copper for the Rearden mills slams into a passenger train in New Mexico, and the railroad can’t do anything but make excuses. Hank puts together a rescue effort that gets the copper moving again, although Hank decides to move his ore in the future via Taggart Transcontinental.
In the middle of all this, Hank’s mother shows up at the mill and asks him to give his brother Philip a job that he doesn’t deserve. Hank effectively throws her out.
Hank now tries to find some steel for the Ward Harvester Company of Minnesota, but he is interrupted by the news that the National Legislature had enacted the Equalization of Opportunity Bill. Wesley Mouch is nowhere to be found.
Hank suddenly comes up with a new design for the rail bridge. He calls Dagny in Colorado and tells her about his new design, which will outperform any bridge ever built and cost no more than a culvert. There is a hint that Dagny has broken into tears.
The State Science Institute
Rand knew about the National Science Foundation, headquartered in Arlington, VA, because it had been founded by an act of Congress in 1950. Every year it funds about ten thousand grants for research and development. It performs no actual research but acts as a clearinghouse for grants.
Rand’s State Science Institute, headquartered in New Hampshire, is a research and development facility; her model is the Department of Agriculture’s laboratory system. These facilities engage in pure research and occasionally come up with something useful. (I worked at one such lab over 40 years ago.) But the State Science Institute has not been able to come up with anything useful, and it views Rearden Metal – or anything created by the private sector – as a threat to its existence. Bureaucracies are terribly protective of their turf.
Some Discussion Topics
In that thread (Chapter 1), go straight to Post #9. One of our book club members hit it on the first try.
Whoa! President Reagan was not elected after being foisted off on the American people by the mainstream media. There is hardly any resemblance between Obama and Reagan.
For starters, FReshman US Senator vs. two terms as Governor of California? No comparison. Obama is not ready for prime time; he knows it, and he knows we know it. Reagan was ready for prime time, and he showed it every day.
I’m not saying he was always correct, but he always had the best interests of the US uppermost in his mind. Obama doesn’t.
Obama is a great speaker and politician, but he is, in reality, a Marxist copycat who is following the LIEberal/Socialist/Marxist playbook page by page.
The mainstream media DID foist him off on us, because they are of a like mind. Witness all the hard questions Obama was asked and the pass the media gave Joe Biden on his almost daily verbal gaffes!
HST, enough voters bought his story to get him elected — well, that and the “voting irregularities” we don’t hear about, again thanks to the mainstream media.
I agree with you: Democrats will over-reach and spend themselves out of office; 2010 strikes me as a good time to eject them and elect a solid conservative Congress.
Obama reminds me of many things, but a new car is not one of them. It may be an apt analogy, but I’m not as charitable as you are.
There is another reason why politicians and show-biz people congregate. Congressman Charlie Rose of North Carolina once said, “Politics is show business for ugly people.” They are all in the same business.
Agreed.
I have friends in the business, so I am aware of how that operates (both corporate and leased). I think that the protagonists could be expected to own the efficient means and keep them operational, especially if they are in a corporate pool
You could use the old standard...And this is your business because:
Good one. Another response that I've heard is-
'Socialization? that's not a problem. Every morning before homeschooling I take them into the bathroom, beat them up and steal their lunch money.'
I stated things badly.
What I meant is that Republicans need to avoid blaming MSM for Obama.
MSM is a convenient scapegoat and allows Republicans to ignore their own egregious behavior.
The only comparison I’m trying to make when it comes to Ronald Reagan is that he managed to get elected in spite of MSM opposition.
I can think of several new cars that looked good on the lot, but turned out to be horrible cars. For instance, pretty much any 1970’s MG Midget. The TR-7. Or, the Cadillac Cimarron.
Sorry, got off on a tangent.
Anyway, I just don’t know how this is going to be fixed. I do believe Atlas Shrugged foretold the end result of business getting in bed with government. The only way I see business and government being split is a complete change in the tax code.
All, and I mean, all tax breaks for business need to be eliminated. However, once that’s done, the cap gains needs to be reduced considerably. Along with corporate taxes being reduced a lot.
Then, tort reform needs to be enacted. Loser pays needs to be instituted.
Right now, I’m concerned that we’re headed for a French style revolution. The seeds have been sewn, because our elected leaders are completely out of touch with the common man.
I just don’t see much difference between “Let them eat cake” and “they don’t care about these porky little amendments.”
BTTT
This is also one of my fears. I don't think that those who call for a revolution of this type have studied history. That action is only a last, desperate resort. There are many other ways to influence those in power. In my opinion we must 'Starve the Beast'. Atlas Shrugged is Rands take on how this may play out but it is not the only possibility. Trying to avoid any spoilers, I'd suggest looking up 'shrugging' and also 'gulching' on the 'net.
=^..^=
I think you are absolutely right. Maybe if “shrugging” on a small scale has an effect, it won’t have to happen on a large scale. For example, Rush was talking the other day about New York and how 40,000 people pay the majority of the taxes that run the city for everyone else. And if even half of those 40,000 decide they’ve had enough of carrying that load, (while all the while being vilified for being greedy, rich fat-cats) and move away, it will have a major impact.
Your tagline makes me wonder - is anyone on this thread actively “shrugging” or planning to do so, and if so, in what way?
...is anyone on this thread actively “shrugging” or planning to do so...
Shrugging will mean different things to different people, depending on their circumstances. Rand, I believe, would agree that her depiction of shrugging is not possible in the real world. She used her writing as a way to teach us about Objectivism. Atlas Shrugged is fiction and should not be taken as an instruction book. The ideas presented are perfectly valid though each individual will need to adapt them to their individual situation.
I am shrugging and know of others who are doing it as well. The main focus is to reduce the amount of taxable income that you need in order to live your desired lifestyle. Be aware that just about anything that you do has tax consequences that are detrimental to you. Some people confuse shrugging with shirking or slacking. There is nothing easy about shrugging, if anything it is more work. It requires that with anything you do, you first ask yourself who benefits. If the answer is not satisfactory, reexamine the need to spend your life doing it. Repeat.
A few practical suggestions would be...
Learn where every dollar you pay in taxes goes. Understand that it is _your_ money before it becomes theirs.
Consider that every dollar that you spend is actually costing you about $1.40 of your life. Time is money and unfortunately our time on earth is limited. Is that purchase really necessary?
Take control of your income. Consult a tax expert. Setting up a small business is a great way to reduce your taxable income. Specialize in something that you enjoy doing. You don't need to quit a current job to do this, in fact,you can transfer some of your earnings to your own business thereby reducing your taxes.
This brings us to understanding the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. The first one is illegal the second is completely legal. I don't recommend breaking the law, that's not what shrugging is about.
I could go on but I won't. Keep in mind that your life belongs to you, not someone who claims to own it.
“Have you ever held a job, usually in a union shop, where quality was discouraged because it showed everyone else up? “
Years ago, my wife asked a bunch of us rednecks to install a bathroom in her classroom, so the wheelchair kids could be attended to.
Boy, did the union put a stop to that.
Excellent point - we read AS and reoild in horror, the other side loudly proclaims, “Aha! The instruction manual!”
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