Book Review: "Atlas Shrugged"

Good day, friends and family!

In between some of my ranting and raving, I thought I'd share my thoughts on some of the reading material that passes across my desk. So, here we go...

Recently, I re-read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." This novel is incredibly relevant for the times in which we are living and should be required reading for every high school Junior in the country. Even though it was originally published in 1957, it could almost have been written today.

For those of you who haven't read it, this novel is basically the struggle of the protagonists, Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden, against the U.S. government and the snobbish, elitist intelligentsia that controls the political power in the the system. Dagny and Hank represent the last of the intellectually honest, creative minds of industry who are the driving force of the 'motor of the world,' while the key antagonists such as Dagny's brother James, Hank's brother, Phillip, and political appointee Wesley Mouch, represent the morally bankrupt, parasitic, incompetent 'looters' who are the sand in the cogs of that same motor. The protagonists of the book represent the 'prime movers' who embody the very principles upon which the U.S. was founded: the Inalienable Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property. The 'looters' are proponents of an all-powerful central government, 'progressive' taxation, industry controlled by the trinity of government ownership/big labor/and oppressive regulation, and the redistribution of wealth from those who create it to those who demand it. While Dagny and Hank try to find the creator of a cutting-edge new motor and answer the question, "Who is John Galt?", the looters reign over the collapse of an economy overburdened with fascist over-regulation, confiscatory taxes, and the methodical destruction of the nation's industrial infrastructure by incompetent fools who don't think it's 'fair' that one company should be more successful than the others just because the successful company was 'lucky' enough to reliably offer better products or services.

For a more thorough synopsis and discussion on the philosophy of the book, I encourage you to visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged .

The relevance of the book was best summarized recently by Yaron Brook, Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, in an article published in The Wall Street Journal on 15 March 2009:

"In Atlas Shrugged, Rand tells the story of the U.S. economy crumbling under the weight of crushing government interventions and regulations. Meanwhile, blaming greed and the free market, Washington responds with more controls that only deepen the crisis. Sound familiar?"

While it is a work of fiction, and even contains a few elements of science fiction, I honestly believe that Atlas Shrugged is one of several publications critical to mentally preparing ourselves against being doomed to repeat history. Many people over the last couple of years have been looking for an "Archduke Ferdinand" moment...an incident that politicos would use to trigger a popular uprising against the established system. Personally, I think the cowardly terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 were, en toto, that moment and that we are now on the verge of a "John Galt" moment.

My friends, 'Atlas' is about to shrug. When he does, will you be part of the burden of which he is relieving himself, or will you be one of those brushing the parasites off your shoulders?

Until next time, best regards...



© 2009 James P. Rice