Scandals lead execs to 'Atlas Shrugged' 1957 Ayn Rand novel sanctions self-interest

USA Today ^ | 9.24.02 | Del Jones

[Enemy Of The State]

In these post-Enron days of corporate scandal, some of the millions of copies of 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.

[AzJP]

Good points, I call those the "doers" who actually contribute.

I'm trying to think of a prime mover, the entreprenuer who creates (literally) the industry that those fine folks work in.

The best I can come up with, flaws and all, would be the Wright Brothers. Many fine mechanics and pilots followed, and some moochers (Glenn Curtis?) but the Wright Brothers were the initial prime movers.

Fun game to play when I'm too lazy to reread her longer works.

kj

[TomServo]

Already posted here.

[Redcloak]

He says great American industrialists were in fact community-minded... The philosophy of Atlas Shrugged does not explain successful CEOs such as Milton Hershey, who during the Depression provided employees of his chocolate company with free medical care and paid off the mortgages of every church in town, [Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, CEO of the Leadership Institute at Yale University] says.

Sonnenfeld doesn't understand the difference between Hershey's charity and government taxation. Hershey did what he did because he wanted to; not because big government commanded him to do so.

[Teacher317]

Once you trudgeg through the first 100 depressing and repetitive pages, it picks up. Some of the soliloquys are HUGE, though, so be prepared. Personally, I think you can skim or skip the romantic scenes. They add nothing to the story and barely anything to the characters. They aren't terribly interesting, either.

Those critiques aside, it is a VERY good book. I believe it is typically third on the lists of the "most influential books in your life" polls.

[Enemy Of The State]

ahhh...and so it was. Thanks for the pointer.

[Dick Vomer]

Who is John Gault?

[LRS]

Yeah, that one had me grinding my teeth as well! When capitalism fails, it is not because of the system; it is because of the people. Communism will fail because of the system, but it's life can be prolonged because of the devotion to the system by a few, but only until those few die out, then its overdue death is soon to follow...

[Norman Conquest]

Obviously Sonnenfeld has never actually read the damn book, or maybe he couldn't understand the two-syllable words. From Starnes to Hunsecker to James Taggart himself, the single most identifying mark of an Atlas villain is wasting money on obscene luxuries that could be spent making the company more productive. And the looters from within the corporation get more scorn and condemnation -- by far! -- than the welfare mooches, lawsuit leeches and government regulators looting from without.

[RightWhale]

Hate to mention this name on FR, but Bill Gates is actually one of the prime movers, even though he got a jump on DOS by buying rights to some older code. Westinghouse, Land, Lear a few others.

[Norman Conquest]

I'm very familiar with John Galt, but never heard of this other fellow. Who is he?

[AzJP]

I'll reject Gates because of his tenacity to sink Netscape rather than create a better product.

Westinghouse is excellent, particulary his word of honor with Tesla. Both. Westinghouse is a good one, he truly understood the long term ethics of business. (Edison? pft!)

kj

[HitmanLV]

One in 10, one in twenty is right. I have seen this play out in my own life. At the risk of flattering myself, I became very alienated at the last job I had. A boss who shamelessly backed her favorites at the expense of others, coworkers who had high opinions of themselves but resented my speed and accuracy, and both my boss and coworkers who resented the fact that I had a pretty cheery attitudee about life, quietly did a ton of stuff under the radar, and also never really helped them do their stuff (since after all, they never really helped me).

After I quit they went bonkers - very venemous and vindictive, while I never lost my cool. In fact, they pretty much ran me out of town but I didn't care - I had quit and already had myself set up in my new city. But the morale: they took the contributions with glee, but resented the person who provided.

What my contacts at the firm did tell me after I left, was the staff's inability to cope with the workload. Morale worsened. Many complaints of the workload somehow "tripling" - though it never outwardlly occured to the crew that the workload didn't triple - they were just now missing the contributions of the one key player. Too many weekends for the staff at the office - weekends that I quietly did, without complaint and without making a lot of noise.

We were a staff of one supervisor, 3 main project managers, and 2 gofers. I was one of the project managers. After I left, it all hit the fan. My boss's department deteriorated. They simply couldn't keep up. One of the other case managers suddenly quit 3 months after I did, with a cover-story about going to "grad school" though he simply left because he couldn't take it any more. The people they hired to replace me and him were way too green - the first replacement ended up quitting in a week, as he just didn't like the scene or the people. I don't blame him.

All of this makes me understand just how dead-on right Ayn was. I tell anyone who will listen, "Go where you are celebrated, not where you are tolerated." Misery doesn't love company, it demands it!!! And the average folks will truly resent those that have a good handle on the job abnd life in general.

Word from my old office is that the whole department will be run out of town and outsourced, probably around early 2003. The scuttlebut is that they appear to have no idea this is in the works. You reap what you sow.

[Lee_Atwater]

I concur with your thoughts. Sonnenfeld's words indicate to me that he hasn't read the book.

Reminds me of a time in British literature class at my school when I hadn't read an assignment and could not answer a question:
Instructor Asks: Michael, have you read last nights assignment, "Ode to a Grecian Urn"?
Class Prefect (who is mad at me at the time and is trying to make things tough for me) chimes in: Hey Mike, what's a Grecian Urn?
Me: I don't know...minimum wage

[Donald Stone]

Bump !!!!

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Atlas Shrugged ranked No. 429 on Amazon.com June through August this year, and some weeks it threatens to crack the Top 100 among more than 2 million listed. A movie deal may be down the road

A movie that will probably completely twist the meaning of the story, turn the businessmen into new "Gordon Gekkos" and find them reforming at the end and embracing socialism.

[RightWhale]

I hear you, HitmanNY.

[L,TOWM]

It's also laughable to suggest that this is some kind of 'Atlas Shrugged' Haahvaahd MBA strike. These guys know full well if the accountants and CPA's have been making Balance Sheet flambe over the last few years, they could be looking at jail time (at worst) or personal liability in a shareholder civil suit.

Journalists. Morons with halway decent grammer and agendas.

[IronJack]

It is a tempting vision, to sit back Galt-like and watch a world populated by mediocrity sink into its own moral and economic squalor. To yield to the superiority of numbers while withholding the vastly more enduring superiority of ideas. To let the world succumb to the depravity it has spawned and so rushes to embrace.

The glowing disciple of Wesley Mouch was California's Gray Davis, a second-rate hack with no ability except The Schmooze. When his cowardice resulted in rolling blackouts and a return to the days of kerosene lanterns, his solution was to "nationalize" the power companies. No wonder he's a champion of the Democrats. He's living proof of the power of denial.

Unfortunately, there is no Galt's Gulch to which the producers of society can retreat. Though 'tis a dream devoutly to be wished ...

[L,TOWM]

And both are equal in their reference to any reality, existing or potential...

[anniegetyourgun]

I think you are correct regarding the real intent of the article. I thought I would sidestep Rand and comment instead on a different subject that the author raised.