“You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against — then you’ll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. Your fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you’d better get wise to it. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted — and you create a nation of law-breakers — and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system...that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be easier to deal with.”
I thought Ayn Rand was overstating her case. It turns out she was exactly right or perhaps even understating the evil of the government liberals are creating.
“I thought Ayn Rand was overstating her case. It turns out she was exactly right or perhaps even understating the evil of the government liberals are creating.”
I think that she knew her villains well; I’ve met many like them in my life, all too many. It’s her heroes that are unrealistically portrayed.
We’re going to have to be our own heroes if we want to survive as free people; there is no John Galt, no Hank Rearden, no Ragnar or Francisco; there’s just us.
That is the one thing Rand nailed.