Posted on 07/25/2009 7:42:36 AM PDT by Publius
Synopsis
The reaction of the men in the studio is one of disbelief.
“It wasn’t real, was it?”
“We seem to have heard it.”
“We couldn’t help it.”
“We don’t have to believe it, do we?”
Each question is a challenge to reality, not to the facts of The Speech. Wesley Mouch fears the public will think it was an authorized broadcast, but Head of State Thompson understands the consequences of the public thinking that the men in the room have lost control of the airwaves. Thompson demands the return of normal broadcasting and no mention of The Speech. Chick Morrison orders a lock on the story in the Mainstream Media.
Eugene Lawson sobs in rage at what he has just heard.
“It’s the most vicious speech ever made!”
Morrison doesn’t think that people of refined spirit will listen to Galt’s message. Tinky Holloway, who can’t speak for labor, says that the workingman won’t buy it. Ma Chalmers, who really can’t speak for women, says it’s no sale for women. Dr. Simon Pritchett, the nihilist philosopher who can’t speak for science, says scientists won’t accept it. Mouch thinks that Galt may be a friend of big business, and that prospect terrifies Mr. Mowen. Dr. Floyd Ferris thinks that people are too dumb to understand it, but it is Fred Kinnan who brings them all back to earth with his statement about people not wanting to starve.
Dagny tells them they have no choice but to surrender because their future is one of total destruction. Thompson sandbags Dagny, telling her he and the men need to evaluate the situation first.
But as soon as Dagny leaves, Dr. Robert Stadler, the one man of science in the room, tells Thompson that he must find Galt and kill him; it’s life or death now. Stadler advises Thompson to follow Dagny; she has to be in league with Galt and his deserters. Thompson tells Mouch to put a tail on Dagny, and if she leads them to Galt, they must bring him in alive. They need Galt because he has a corner on the men of intelligence.
As Dagny and Eddie walk on empty sidewalks past abandoned shops through a city where the lights in buildings above the 25th floor are turned off, he tells her that he recognized the voice of John Galt as his Anonymous Rail Worker friend. She tells him not to seek Galt if he values the life of his friend. She promises him she won’t desert. Thing are falling apart rapidly now, and the men of government will soon throw in the towel.
The Mainstream Media asks people not to be alarmed by The Speech but to see it as just one opinion. The country is silent until:
Thompson has the government sending continuous radio messages to John Galt asking him to come in for negotiations. Silence. The Unification Board tries to fill management jobs. Few will take them. Official broadcasts tell the nation that the government will soon work with John Galt, and stories are spread by Morrison that Galt is already in Washington conferring with government leaders. America’s industrial base grinds toward collapse. Hyperinflation erupts.
There are rumors of covered wagons traveling by night to avoid gangs of raiders, and of lights appearing in distant buildings not known to exist, but soldiers won’t dare to investigate. The Sign of the Dollar appears on abandoned buildings and government installations.
Rearden Steel is nationalized as the property of a deserter. People from the Boyle faction and Meigs faction fail to get the plant to produce, so they settle for looting the company and shipping its physical plant to friends in Europe and Latin America. An old and loyal worker who remembers Hank Rearden finally burns the plant to the ground in revenge for his boss.
Thompson asks Dagny what to do; she tells him to start the process of decontrolling people and removing taxes. Thompson balks and tells Dagny he hopes that Galt is still alive. The government is breaking into factions, and one faction wants to introduce official state terror and mass murder to get people to shut up and obey. He hopes to frighten her enough to lead them to Galt, and she is too obtuse to see the ruse.
So Dagny, who should know better, takes a 4 AM walk through a Manhattan that looks like Starnesville to find the apartment of John Galt. Based on the Taggart personnel records, she knocks on the registered address of John Galt, an apartment in a run-down building. He answers, sweeps her in and kisses her longingly. Dagny thinks they are safe, but John disabuses her of that notion; they have about thirty minutes before the “midnight knock on the door”. They will torture her in his presence if they realize the link between them, and he’d rather commit suicide than place her in that kind of jeopardy. Dagny must feign sympathy with the government, and John gives her the alibi she must use as she turns him in for the reward. He gives her a tour of the apartment he has lived in for the past twelve years, including his lab, run by his motor.
Their brief moment of happiness is interrupted by the knock. Three soldiers and a bureaucrat enter, and Dagny turns Galt in to the authorities. But the civilian says his job is to greet Galt in the name of the people and convey him to the national leadership. Their attempt to get into Galt’s lab reveals a room full of white dust; the self-destruct mechanism has done its job.
Galt is ensconced in the Wayne-Falkland, guarded by troops and government agents; there are public statements that he has joined the government. Thompson assures Galt he is not a prisoner, although he can’t leave, and offers him Wesley Mouch’s job. Galt says that if Thompson is serious, he will abolish all income taxes immediately. Thompson bridles at this, and Galt tells him that he cannot function as Economic Dictator, telling people to be free at the point of a gun. If Thompson wants him to sit at a desk and issue directives drawn up by the Head of State, he will comply, but he doesn’t have any ideas on how to fix the current system other than to abolish it.
Chick Morrison notes that the people are not reacting to promises that John Galt will deliver prosperity; they no longer believe anything the government says. Neither Mouch, Morrison nor Kinnan make any headway talking to Galt, although Kinnan understands him perfectly. Eugene Lawson screams that he can’t talk to Galt.
“I don’t want to have to believe it!”
Ferris subtly suggests torture, and Thompson shuts him up.
Although the government has announced the John Galt Plan, things are deteriorating rapidly.
Thompson asks Dagny for advice, and she plays along with Galt’s strategy of making Thompson believe she is on the government’s side. What Galt wants, she explains, is the whole earth; those are the stakes. But she pulls a fast one by convincing Thompson to let Galt see the confidential reports on how the nation is crumbling.
Arriving at her apartment, Dagny receives a note from Francisco giving her instructions on how to help and a phone number by which to reach him.
Galt meets with Thompson and Jim Taggart, who gives a long lecture on selfishness and accuses Galt of egoism. Morrison hands Galt petitions from schoolchildren, cripples, ministers and mothers begging Galt to tell the country what to do. Dr. Ferris lectures Galt on moral responsibility, suggesting that the government may order children and the elderly to be put to death for lack of food; this so enrages Thompson that he ejects Ferris from the room. Galt asks to speak to Dr. Stadler.
Eddie tells Dagny that a failed attack by raiders on the Taggart bridge over the Mississippi is not the only problem; a faction in the California civil war is holding Taggart trains for ransom in San Francisco. Eddie decides to fly to San Francisco on an army plane to take charge of the crisis. He finally admits his feelings to Dagny, and she tells him she has known for years.
Stadler has resisted the meeting with Galt, but government thugs escort him to Galt’s room with a warning to behave. At the sight of Galt, Stadler falls apart and begs for forgiveness while Galt simply says nothing. Stadler flees his former student’s presence.
Morrison arrives with a valet to get Galt prepared for an official dinner in formal attire. At the ballroom, to the applause of hundreds, Galt sits at the center of the official table; even Dagny is there, although Stadler is absent. The event is covered live on radio and television, and a newsman announces the inauguration of the John Galt Plan for Peace, Prosperity and Profit. The government men make speeches in praise of Galt and the plan, but when it’s Galt’s turn to speak, he has one simple message: “Get the hell out of my way!”
Discussion Topics
The Obozo administration looks very Fascist to me.
I fear for our country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.