[TruthBeforeAll]

The biggest problem I had with Atlas Shrugged was it seemed to assume that capitalism, without moral underpinnings, still works. It does not. Capitalism lacking in morality always leads to communism. Just as an engine without some sort of governor with eventually blow up. In other words, capitalists who do not throttle their desire to make money with a moral governor actually empower those who wish to destroy capitalism.

[Lurker]

Capitalism lacking in morality always leads to communism.

Utter and complete claptrap written without a shred of any kind of proof, historical or otherwise.

[Pessimist]

I don’t see how Rand proposes capitalism without morals.

I’ve been reading Capitalism by Rand right now and she’s quite explicit that it is only capitalism which is in fact moral.

[LearsFool]

Well said!

[ClearCase_guy]

I would agree. I find Rand's rejection of religion to be her Achille's heel. If Man is the only thing that counts, then Man's moral sense of self-ownership is the highest good and all other moral values must flow from that. Unfortunately, this leads to unthrottled desires for ownership and control and over time can turn into the very thing it despises.

However, with morality based on a higher power, Man is naturally throttled back in his desires. Ownership and control may still be valued, but there is a sense that there is more to life and that giving of one's self and of one's possessions is not so very bad.

I don't think Rand saw this, and I've known a lot of Libertarians who don't see it either. In my experience, such people become very shrill and dictatorial.

[SaraJohnson]

Very well stated! We are now seeing the combination of humanism with capitalism scam the world and shake down our treasury.

[badbass]

My thoughts exactly. The pendulum swings back and forth between the extremes of communism and ruthless capitalism. Neither side can seem to see that one causes the other.

[Hank Kerchief]

“The biggest problem I had with Atlas Shrugged was it seemed to assume that capitalism, without moral underpinnings, still works.”

I do not know what you read, but it was not Atlas Shrugged. The novel is entirely about moral values and the consequences of a society that has none—like today’s society.

Capitalims is not a “system.” A free society under a limited government is a “system” (the one Rand and the founders of this country advocated.) Capitalism is essentially the actions of productive individuals who know enough not to consume all their seed corn, and have something to continue their prosperity. That kind of function is only possible in a free society with a free market, but there is no guarantee free men will behave as capitalists except when it is to their advantage, morally and fiscally. Most would.

Hank