I always loved that line!
Posted on 04/04/2009 7:41:47 AM PDT by Publius
Synopsis
The men of Colorado disappear one by one until only Ted Nielsen is left; he promises Dagny he is not going anywhere. Dagny realizes she is encountering a Destroyer who is performing the reverse of the mystery motor, turning kinetic energy back into static.
Quentin Daniels and Dagny hit it off; neither of them thinks much of “governmental scientific inquiry”. Daniels is the night watchman at Utah Tech but uses the laboratory facilities of the closed school for his own purposes. Dagny and Daniels conclude their own private deal without the involvement of the railroad.
The cigarette stand proprietor catches Dagny as she is leaving the building and tells her that Hugh Akston’s cigarette had attributes he had never seen before and was not made anywhere on this earth.
Ken Danagger and Hank meet discreetly in Hank’s hotel room at the Wayne-Falkland to conclude a deal, now illegal, giving Danagger Coal the Rearden Metal it needs for its mines. Danagger has expanded his operation by acquiring a bankrupt coal company to the conflicting complaints of bureaucrats that he is a monopolist but needs to expand further.
After Danagger leaves, Lillian Rearden surprisingly arrives; she is in town for Jim Taggart’s wedding to Cherryl Brooks, which she sees as perfectly ridiculous. She wants to be the center of her husband’s life, and although Hank would prefer not to go, he does so to please her.
The courtship of Jim and Cherryl has so far not included sex, for which Cherryl is grateful. But she is hurt by those who see Jim’s involvement with her as being “generous”, as if she were an object of pity. She is especially hurt by the reception she gets from Jim’s friends, particularly Betty Pope, whose cryptic comments are disturbing. When she hears comments about Jim’s connections in Washington, she thinks the men hate Jim out of envy, not something else, like disgust.
At the reception Orren Boyle and Bertram Scudder scan the room, classifying each guest as friend or foe. Jim and Boyle get into an argument about who has the greater influence and is more to be feared; each has friends in high places because of personal blackmail. Boyle says that if they don’t trade money, they can trade men. He reminds Jim that Wesley Mouch has been bought twice already and can be bought again.
Cherryl spots Dagny and tells her that she knows about the hell that Dagny has put poor Jim through. “I’m the woman in this family now.” Dagny smiles and says, “That’s quite all right ... I’m the man.”
Lillian approaches Jim and asks if he likes her wedding gift, which is Hank. It gives the impression that even the great Hank Rearden has to toe the line with Jim Taggart and serves as a warning to all in the room. Lillian wants Jim to understand that she has the power to deliver Hank.
Lillian accosts Dagny and asks her opinion of Jim’s marriage; Dagny doesn’t have one. Lillian tells Dagny that Cherryl had resorted to talents that Dagny would despise; Dagny chooses not to be offended. Lillian notices the Rearden Metal bracelet and wants it back, but Dagny refuses. She tells Dagny that her wearing it might hint that something improper was going on; Dagny looks her in the eye and asks if that improper thing might be that she is sleeping with Lillian’s husband. Lillian backs off, and Hank tells her to apologize, which she does.
The intellectuals in the room gather around Jim to praise him for his enlightened behavior. Bertram Scudder gives Jim his highest accolade: he is not a businessman. Jim says, “We will build a society dedicated to higher ideals, and we will replace the aristocracy of money by–“, and Francisco interrupts, “–the aristocracy of pull.” Jim loses his composure, but Francisco rescues him by suggesting that he be presented to the bride.
Francisco tells Jim that he knows Jim is the real stockholder behind all the straw men that Jim and friends have erected to hide their purchases. Francisco understands that Jim doesn’t want people to know how he got rich. The copper company has done well in the past year, and it would take a most unusual kind of man to destroy it. He thanks Jim for the crippling regulations that have made d’Anconia Copper the last man standing in the business. He intends to repay the favor.
Francisco goes to Dagny and asks if she is fishing for a compliment on her achievement, the John Galt Line. Dagny is hurt that Francisco should so despise success. He tells her that John Galt has claimed her line.
When Bertram Scudder says that money is the root of all evil, Francisco launches into his famous Root of Money Speech, available here. As he finishes, the crowd at the party reacts in horror, particularly one woman who just feels that Francisco has to be wrong. Francisco tells her that when she sees people dying of starvation around her, her feelings won’t be of any use to them.
Rearden greets Francisco as if they were old friends. Francisco tells Hank he shouldn’t have come to the party because people would assume that he and Jim were friends. Hank now feels differently about Francisco following the speech, but he can’t figure out why Francisco is wasting his talents. Francisco tells Hank to check his premises and warns him to stay away from d’Anconia Copper; when Hank sees what happens in the next fifteen minutes he’ll understand why. The people in the room have secreted their looters’ profits from their Rearden Metal wealth in stock in Francisco’s company. There was a fire tomorrow morning at the company’s docks at Valparaiso, Francisco explains, then there will be a rockslide in a critical mine, and the company’s mines will turn out to be worthless. Hank laughs explosively, then backs away in horror. He thinks that Francisco is guiltiest man in the room. Francisco tells Hank to watch and learn.
Francisco runs into a businessman harried by a bureaucrat who grandly states that he will decide if the businessman is permitted to make a profit or not. Francisco says in a loud voice to Hank that he is sorry that Hank will not grant him the loan because if he can’t raise the money tonight, then when the stock market opens tomorrow... The bureaucrat blanches, Francisco asks him if he owns any d’Anconia Copper stock, and upon receiving affirmation advises the bureaucrat to sell immediately but not to tell anyone in the room so as not to start a panic. Within minutes, everyone rushes to the phones to call their brokers. Jim asks if the rumors are true, and Francisco explains that if money is the root of all evil, then he is just tired of being evil. As Hank, Dagny and Francisco watch, Jim and Orren Boyle join the general chaos.
Cherryl, Sex and the Fifties
As mentioned in a previous chapter, in the Fifties chastity became trendy again and virginity became desirable. But that is not at the heart of Cherryl’s gratitude that Jim has been willing to wait until their wedding night to consummate their relationship.
Cherryl does not want to use underhanded methods to win Jim; she wants to put the lie to the evil assumptions of Jim’s friends. She has her moral code and intends to stick to it come hell or high water. She is completely clueless as to the relationship between Jim and Betty Pope and even more clueless as to the true nature of the man she is marrying. Poor Cherryl.
Francisco’s Root of Money Speech
This speech is an audition for Hank Rearden, and it has the desired effect. There are lines that are seared into the memory long after one has put the book back on the shelf.
Other Discussion Topics
Try this... If in a free market the demand and the compensation for your efforts would still exist, and at the same level, you yourself are a producer. As to the nature of your employer, that is another question.
K
It seems dear leader Zer0 has signed the USA up to have our corporations and employee compensation overseen by an international “Financial Stability Board”!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2225613/posts
>>So, when one says “it’s only money” or “only an object” what they are really saying is “I don’t value my life very much.”
Just a corollary point, not really disagreeing with you: Whenever I’ve said “it’s just an object and easily replaced” it was usually in a situation where the person I was talking to had just survived something rather destructive—a car crash, a fire, that sort of thing.
I value life and in *these* cases, the value of money (some portion of life) is lesser than the value of human life in it’s entirety—the person survived. In most other cases I completely agree with you
When it comes to thieves, I’ve had things stolen, cars broken into, my convertible top mangled, and I was upset precisely because I knew the time and effort it took me to earn the money to pay for those items. And as you said, those thieves stole a little bit of my life I’ll never have back.
Sort of like watching one of Zero’s speeches (LOL), which is why I don’t bother watching them.
I completely agree with you when it comes to those situations.
I always loved that line!
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