Scandals lead execs to 'Atlas Shrugged'

USA Today ^ | 9/23/02 | Del Jones

[scoopscandal]

Gibson as Galt...he can totally pull it off.

I didn't want to sound like a Gibson groupie so I'm glad you said it :-)

Regards,

[SauronOfMordor]

There were actually two classes of CEOs in Atlas Shrugged. The good guys were the ones who used their creativity in order to make their companies produce products. The bad ones were the ones who used their government "connections" with politicians and regulators to gain an advantage over the productive ones. I'm sure Ayn Rand would have put the Enron crooks in the "evil" pile same as us

The core of Ayn Rand's philosophy is not to glorify the thief, but the creative producer. It's that you make the world better not by giving handouts to the unproductive, but by creating productive jobs

[MJemison]

You're right. Clooney is not worthy of any association with the movie. But Val Kilmer is. He would be very convincing as Reardon.

[SauronOfMordor]

Are there so many resources in this country that we could all be rich? Clearly not. So, then is it okay to ignore all the people that are working hard trying to raise families and pay for homes just because you made it?

A supermarket clerk in 2002 lives better than an upper-middle-class woman of the 1600's. She is warm in the winter, cool in the summer, has plenty of fresh food available to her (even if she then chooses to snack on pork rinds), has entertainment at the click of a button, etc.

None of this happened thru altruism. It happened through technological progress created by people who were trying to make money for themselves

[Tijeras_Slim]

You're right, I'd forgotten about Orren Boyle. (But then again, who wouldn't?)

[scoopscandal]

I'm not really too familiar with Val Kilmer except for Batman...what else has he done and why do you think he would be right for the role of Reardon?

For the record, my reason for being a proponent of Gibson as the Galt character is that, as an actor, he has been able to powerfully portray an heroic character...more than once...in my opinion, his greatest performance was in Braveheart.

Why do you think Kilmer?

Regards,

[DManA]

How could the author possibly know this? This story is more fictional than the book.

Atlas Shrugged that have been sold over 45 years are being dusted off by executives under siege by prosecutors, regulators, Congress, employees, investors, a Republican president, even terrorists.

[xJones]

What happened to creating good solid jobs like steel mills, printing houses, garment factories, etc.

They're going to other countries, bud.

[brewcrew]

Jeri Ryan (is that her name?) as Dagney Taggart. The one who played Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.

[raybbr]

If during the course of the relationship, one party or the other becomes dis-satisfied, either party has the option to end it. This presumes that the employee can go anywhere with his skills and get a job. In some cases, unskilled labor for instance, this is true. In my case, where I am highly skilled as an industrial electrician, I am limited in the number of places where I am needed. True, I could try to find another job in another place. But, these days I am at the mercy of the employer.

For instance; we just hired a new electrician where I work. He revealed to me what they are paying him. He is starting at a lower wage than when I started 14 yrs ago. At the same time I know the management of the company has been getting regular raises and bonuses.

I am for market driven salaries. It's just that the market in my field keeps dwindling due to reduction of industry here in the U.S. I surely don't want to leave the country and move to China just because there are lot of industrial plants there and could have my pick.

[Irene Adler]

How about Tom Selleck to play John Galt? He is a conservative with strong looks. I think he would be pretty good.

[Chemist_Geek]

Sure, the ones who do all the work and investment keep most of it for themselves (as they should), but plenty is left over and trickles down through their employees, their suppliers, and their customers. All of us benefit when wealth is created - no one's getting shafted when someone is successful.

When you write, "the ones who do all the work," what do you mean? For the company's employees are doing the work, aren't they? Management can rant, rave, and rail all they wish, but, what do they produce other than smoke?

I know that I'm veering dangerously close to very Democratic or even socialist positions here. It's just that in my career as lab scientist, management doesn't seem to do anything except produce silly ideas I'm required to test, or, put roadblocks in testing worthy ideas.

[Hank Rearden]

I wonder what Hank Rearden would have thought of a dot com millionaire (while they lasted)?

Of the crooks, not much. However, there were a lot of very good ideas in the earlier days of the dotcom boom. Some good people and good companies got screwed and buried by the VCs and the bust.

Why wouldn't petfood sales be viable on the net, if shipping costs could be managed? I'm surprised both of the big online pet places cratered; one could have succeeded. But the mania killed 'em. That's just one example.

[MJemison]

Kilmer appears an anti-liberal-Hollywood type. He has done Top Gun, Heat, Misson to Mars, and Tombstone, among others. He has the kind of cool Nordic looks and somewhat distant self-possession that I have always associated with Reardon. Plus there is good chemistry with Ashley Judd, my pick as Dabney, and great contrast with Antonia Banderas (my pick for D'Anconia) and Billy Zane (my pick as Galt).

[dalereed]

"I really hate owners who exhort their managers/employees to put in all sorts of unpaid overtime."

If you don't like the hours, don't accept a salaried position and just be happy as an hourly grunt.

If you want to get ahead, put in the hours necessary and put forth all the talant you have available.

I never asked a salaried employee to put in more than myself but I also put in over 70 hours a week for over 40 years.

[scoopscandal]

I'm not familiar with her...is she a strong presence?

[scoopscandal]

Love Tom Selleck however, I'm not quite sure if he's got that intense enigmatic quality about him.

[Gothmog]

"'Ayn Rand did not anticipate CEOs who would loot their firms for hundreds of millions of dollars before bankrupting them,' Sonnenfeld says."

This guy is from Yale? Maybe he should re-read the book. The most obvious example would be James Taggert.

[scoopscandal]

Hmmm...very interesting, your picks are. (I sound like Yoda...giggle, giggle...sorry.)

I think you're right, Kilmer has that sort of enigmatic quality about him...very handsome, seems solid...like the Reardon character.

I hadn't even thought of Antonio Banderas but I like it.

I'm not really familiar with Billy Zane...I can vaguely make his face out in my memory.

But Ashly Judd...that's where we have to part ways, my friend. Total eye-candy but complete flake...I don't think I've ever seen her in a strong role. She reminds me of Meg Ryan...very cutesy...Great in the Romantic Commedy catagory...but she's no Dagny Taggart.

Just off the top of my head, I'd say if Linda Hamilton were softer and younger, she might make a good Dagny Taggart.

Who else is there for women? Hmmm...?

Regards,

[Chancellor Palpatine]