The End

Last Post: New Ideas and New Questions

The book was a lot to take in. Just by straightforwardly explaining what she opposed, Ayn Rand exposed all of its faults without any ambiguous justification or circumventing the issue, which is surprising taking into account the length of the book. I thought that she could have cut out many pages at first, but the meticulous unwrapping of the subject imprints into readers minds everything that she sees and believes. I look at the world in a new light, and don’t know yet if this new filter has added to my clarity or distortion. 

I am not sure if this book is the future of America. I definitely do no think that John Gault and his followers represent Republicans while Jim Taggart and his “social welfare” supporters represent Democrats, despite the simple connections that can be assumed. Ayn Rand is speaking of a government unlike what we have which is pure capitalism (we have aspects of free market and planned economy in our system), and like she pointed out, cannot be compromised with anything, because she believes anything else will lead to failure. She is speaking of starting from scratch where government only has control, over military, police, and a court system with rational and not overbearing laws (many of our laws are hardly rational). She was speaking on behave of her own ideas and pure capitalism, not anything that “tries” to be what she believes, but what is what she belives. This does not include Republicans (Mr. Chow). 

This book really made me think if this way of life, which almost seems like a utopian way of living, is possible and can be successfully implemented into a big, diverse, and complex country like the United States. Then, I thought if it was inevitable for this country to crumble and face devastation if we do not change. Immediately my answer was no. Atlas Shrugged shows the importance of ideas, and one that has been implanted in most Americans’ minds is the fear of Communism. Our history with the Cold War, the Red Scare, and other issues has caused a common opposition to Communism, planned economy, and even the word socialism causes people to become uncomfortable. It is almost a natural reflex to hate those ideas, so I cannot fathom the United States becoming what it has continuously fought, yet you never know. 

There are reasons why government prevents businesses and companies to do whatever they see fit to make money. I will not dispute the benefits of businesses being “left alone”, because we spent 1069 pages reading about those benefits. However, there are reasons why we take measures there are restrictions on big companies. Not all regulations are bad and are corrupt, like having a minimum wage. This prevents the use of sweatshops in our country, even though we can use them elsewhere (not that logical). Regulations also make businesses, who’s desire to make money could cloud aspects of their reason (which I think Rand would say is impossible so maybe I’m wrong), comply with safety regulations that could have prevented tragedies like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, in which employers locked exists so workers could not take prohibited breaks. I personally also favor limitations on certain companies CO₂ emission in the atmosphere, but who is one to care about the environment.

If the world was made people who had the mindset of Hank, Dagny, and Ayn Rand,  that society would be the ultimate utopia. Yet, even successful people today, who have made something out of nothing, and work for their own profit, see no fault in giving to those in need. You can ague that this is the fault of being brainwashed by socialist values, or that is just how I am. I do not think that because you need more, you deserve more, or that need should be an excuse for not working hard. However, even after John Gault’s speech, I still would be able to say the word “give” without thinking twice, and its possible because I take a selfish satisfaction in knowing I helped someone, or because I l simply like to give. 

I never wanted to have a career where I am not directly helping people and their lives. This book showed me that having a job like Hank Rearden’s helps and also has a widespread effect on people’s well being.  It shows me that some peoples acts of selfishness, can actually benefit people. 

My ideas of “need” and “selfishness” have been completely altered by this book. My friend once told me angrily that 80% of the wealth belongs to 20% of the people. How I react to that figure before I read this book and after were completely different. Despite the long read, I still have some unanswered  questions, like who really “deserves” and “earns” what, and what are governments true justifiable purpose. 

One Last Post for Atlas Shrugged

The ideas of Ayn Rand are indeed very knowledgeable and quite
informative for the reader. Though they are not as blunt as what we see in
real life, they are still enlightening and come across as unique but,
necessary. Why they are necessary is because they teach us a great
many things about the events that are affect us in the present, such as:
the consequences of government regulations on businesses, the costs
that ensue indirect externals from third party organizations such as the
workers union, the media, etc. We get the impression that Rand
understands the evils that are incorporated in large governments because
she has been there. Rand use to live in the Soviet Union during the time
of the Cold War when Russian lives were considered mere puppets by
their "distinguished" leaders. The government in this country took over all
forms of business and implemented regulations on how the people were
to live their lives. During that era, we all thought that this was bad and that
is why we fought the Cold War; communism was considered heresy due
to the fact that it opposed so many of our already established
fundamentals as Americans and because our way of life was so much
better, we pulled out on top by the end of the war. In today's world, we
are having complications in the government since Congress is pushing for
more regulations on how the American people live. You cannot deny this
because the Affordable Care Act imposes itself onto the citizens by
forcing many of them to buy healthcare. This hurts small businesses since
it also forces them to pay more for their employees which means they will
have less money to invest into their businesses and less money for their
families. Now how does a business owner handle this? By laying off
workers so, in the long run, this law will indirectly cause small business
owners, which makes up the majority of the population here in America,
to either force many workers into the unemployment scale or force them
to close up shop. However, if Congress could listen to reason and hear
that the majority of the population is not in favor of this law, then maybe
they could save themselves from making a terrible mistake and for those
that believe the consequences of the Affordable Care Act tone different, I
say: take a leap into the world of Atlas Shrugged and educate yourself or
else one day you will feel great suffering to yourself and the only person
left to blame would be yourself. All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed the book
and believe that it should be recommended to other young minds to read.
The knowledge within has not been taught to others in ages and should
be reintroduced to the world.

Final Reaction

At first, one look at the book had me rolling my eyes and groaning from the amount of time I knew I would spend reading the next few weeks, and indeed I did spend some quality time with the book. I found this book to be unnecessarily long and at times very repetitive, but I found the message of the book to very insightful and Rand did a very good job mixing in a plot to a dramatic story to get her point across.

Although it was a long read, I dove in deep in some parts and actually enjoyed most of the book. The story was like a black hole that led you to a different end every time. Every character has somehow connected and all their actions affected one another. I liked reading about a hardship story that evolves into a love story combined with struggle and then gets mixed up with seven other different kinds of situations and makes the book seem really realistic and entertaining to read. I thought it was particularly interesting how this book was written in the late 1950’s, yet all the themes, all the ideas, all the concepts of the systems and the philosophy of the way people are as opposed to the way they should be, they’re all applicable to this time period as well. That shows that even if humans have the means and the right ideas, it may take more than fifty years to ever do anything about the way we do things or the way in which the government regulates the people and controls our mindset. I think this proves our inability to see what’s right in front us at times but we decide to ignore because the upper power neglects it. I also thought it was a funny coincidence that the government shut down while we were reading this book because it basically proved everything the book was trying to demonstrate, right.

From my understanding of the book, Rand is telling us that the government is corrupt and will always put a mask on, commit disgusting crimes against their own people, and always use the same excuse that it is all being done for the “common welfare.”

She is also telling us that, because we are the only country that was “made with the brain” by industrialist and intelligent leaders, the restrictions and limitations that lead to the modern industrialist’s termination are hypocritical to what this country stands for. Industrialists should be helped to expand and it should be promoted that business leaders be selfish and greedy and do everything for themselves rather than other people because man is a selfish creature, and so if we are made to think that we are doing our jobs for someone else rather than for our own benefit, then we will take the job lightly, reduce the quality, stop caring, and try to find a way to get someone to do your job for you. That’s the whole idea of looters. These people are snakes and vultures that first attack the successful industrialists with venom to weaken them and then  they feed on whatever they had and take whatever business they made a fortune on, claiming it to be unfair that one man would have so much power and other have nothing. This is a capitalistic society, there needs to be a difference in classes, if not, we’d become a communist country if we spread the wealth.

For the looter characters, I hated them all from the beginning. Jim especially because he was the biggest vulture with everything Dagny did that was good, but Dagny’s worst enemy whenever the public went against her. I got Rand’s message that “the people in Washington” are the people with power to take away companies from men, and their soul along with it, and that these people have their small circle of connections. These are the fable minded, the weak. The industrialists like Galt and d’Anconia and Rearden are the real heroes of this book. These type of men represent what the ideal American leaders should be. If men care for themselves and look after themselves, it will create competition, innovation, men will strive to be better. “No charity” and that’s why they succeeded, The book also showed that, as it happened to East Germany after WWII, West Germany got all the brain power and left the East to do nothing but plot on how to get back at the West for leaving them hopeless. So Galt’s Gulch represents the West, and when these men are taken away from society, it becomes complete havoc because the only people left are those who want to get free benefits and steal crumbs off of others.  

In the end, I liked the book. I thought it was an insightful read that may come in handy one day when my moral values are in question. 

Final Reaction

After cursing Ayn Rand for writing so much, and my English teacher for making me read so much, I can honestly say that Atlas Shrugged is the best novel I have read in my entire life. I now thank Ayn Rand for her inspiring work which has completely changed my view of human nature. I realize now that every single person on this planet is greedy, and that is exactly how it is supposed to be. Each of the main characters in this novel has taught me a valuable lesson. I want to share with you these lessons because I think that they are all necessary for success in life.

Dagny Taggart is the model impresario. She stands by her business regardless of the costs both economic and social. If I had to describe Dagny in one word, it would be determined. Dagny displays her determination throughout the novel. At first, she is determined to build the Rio Norte line efficiently and on time. When society makes it so difficult that everyone else gives up, she finds a way to get it done. Through her determination and unmatchable leadership abilities, the John Galt Line is completed ahead of schedule and it inspires the nation. After completing the feat of a lifetime, Dagny continues to feature her determination through the tireless search to find the creator of the motor in order to reconstruct it. After everyone who can possibly have the answer to her questions has told her that her quest is in vain, she refuses to give up. Dagny uses an alternate plan and funds the reconstruction of the motor. In this novel there is not one situation where the reader sees Dagny Taggart giving up a task. She is always determined to achieve her goal and by the time the novel is over, there is no goal she does not achieve.

Hank Rearden is an extraordinary character and the model entrepreneur. He teaches the importance of hard work. Hank is a self made man who through his tireless efforts and hard work has become a tycoon in the metal industry. He represents the man who does not get tired or lazy and who is always ready to work. Rand uses him to show her readers that hard work pays off. His ten year efforts finally pay off and he created Rearden Metal which shocks the country, and puts the looters in his hands. Rearden demonstrates the need to be proud of one’s accomplishments and shows the reader that there is no shame in being happy with one’s profits.

James Taggart is the most frustrating character in the novel because he has all the assets and connections to be a successful and inspiring executive however he wastes his life and his talents in a game of power. James is always focused on the public opinion rather than on acting on his own beliefs. He thinks that he acts for the benefit of the country but in reality, he digs a deeper grave for the national economy. He is a major part of the looters and he shares their communist philosophies that lead to the destruction of the economy. James Taggart teaches the reader to be exactly the opposite of what he is. Rand uses this character to prove that a focus on public opinion creates failure. She stresses that a successful person follows his own moral code and is proud of his or her individual accomplishments.

John Galt is as Ayn Rand intended: the ideal man. He is the man that every person should strive to resemble. Ayn Rand teaches through Galt the importance of standing up for ones beliefs. Galt creates a strike to show people the mistake in accepting communist ideas. He puts his own personal goals on hold to change something that he knows is wrong. Galt inspires the worlds greatest men to leave their lives behind and join him in the quest of stopping the destruction of freedom. Rand creates Galt and idolizes him the way she does to show the world thats it only takes one man with the right idea to change the world.

With these four characters, Rand paints a picture for the reader of the qualities necessary to be successful in life. She gives each reader the tools to change the world, and she leaves it up to the reader to use these tools in his or her life. Rand also demonstrates the value of a capitalist society and the dire consequences of communism. She highlights the importance of individual goals over collective goals, because if everyone works towards their own success, society’s success happens automatically. 

Final Reaction

            When we were first assigned the book, I thought I was not going to enjoy the book. The more I read, I was surprise by how much I actually enjoyed reading it. The character developments, themes, and the writing style were key points to the story. Atlas Shrugged really opened my mind to what was going on in today’s society and how it could end up destroying us. It was shocking to read how Ayn Rand could predict the problems we have today. Coming from communist Russia, Rand had a first hand experience to what it was like not having the freedom to produce as much as one would like. The first two parts of the book serve as a warning of what can happen if we stay on the path of self-destruction.

            Even though I do not know much about politics, Atlas Shrugged showed me what policies such as Obamacare could do to us. After reading the book, I realized that Obama is just like the “men in Washington” who give false promises, give free hand outs, and punish those who are successful and work hard for the items they have. At times I did not want to believe that this could actually be happening to the United States, the land of democracy and freedom, but I realized that our freedom is restricted even more each day. We value those who have great minds but at the same time we envy them and shun them. Those who are successful in our world are the ones who make the most money, but what about those who are successful in other ways? We do not seem to care much about the ones who have an IQ of 130 or above. They are too advanced for us to understand. Ayn Rand points out that the key to having a stable nation is to accept everyone but not treat everyone as equals because in reality, no one is truly equal no matter how many times we tell ourselves that we are.

            Dagny kept talking about this world that she always thought she would end up in. That world failed to exist in the first two parts. A world where success is valued and not punished or where the looters loose.  Her dream was a constant reminder to her that those men in Washington were not protecting the public but protecting themselves. It made her strive even harder to prove them wrong. Her determination and hope that someday she will be praised for her achievements is what fueled her. In part three, Dagny is finally brought to her paradise. As she was exploring the valley, it reminded me a little bit of the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy goes to the city of Oz where everything seems perfect, as if it was a dream. Dagny finds it hard at first to accept that this is reality and that every man who has quit and vanished are now standing in front of her.  After the crash, she is greeted my man who shows no sign of guilt, pain, or struggle. To her, he is the perfect man. The man who has no burden. It did not seem possible that Dagny survived the crash and that the heat waves were reflecting the valley over the mountain tops. The valley did not seem possible.

            “This is John Galt speaking. I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values. I am the man who has deprived you of victims and thus destroyed your world…”  (pg. 923) Galt is the man who has stopped the motor of the world. At first, when the tramp speaks about a young man who plans to stop this motor, I thought he would be destroying every big business that has contributed to society. This was not the case. He has destroyed the world by taking away the intellects, the innovators, the ones who work hard. He took away the brain. The motor the Galt described while working for Twentieth Century Motor Company was the brain. It was not materialistic. It proved that the world would mean nothing without knowledge and the success one achieved out of that knowledge. Galt has taken away everything the public believes is evil. Instead of addressing an audience, he is “addressing a mind.”

            As Galt first started speaking, the only people who knew his voice were Dr. Stadler, Dagny, and Eddie. Half way through the speech, I realized how Eddie knew Galt. Eddie had been speaking to a man whose face showed no lines of stress, guilt, or pain. He always seemed relaxed but always wanted to know more about Dagny, which I had always thought was strange. I made the connection. John was the man in the cafeteria. He was also the man who stood outside of Taggart Transcontinental pacing back and forth, watching her.  He was the destroyer, the one who has freed the nation of those they hate but do not want to loose. He has taken away the world’s key to growth. He is John Galt.

I Thought You Were an Egoist

When I read the last sentence of Atlas Shrugged, I felt struck with the full force of the novel. The journey Ayn Rand has led us on has been strenuous, intense, and completely unusual, but in the end it is as if we have achieved what the characters have achieved, simply by accompanying them on the journey they have taken. The level of detail and imagery of the book brings us into the world of Dagny Taggart and John Galt; they are characters I am sure most of us will never forget.

The impact of the novel is earth-shattering. It is the kind of literary work that has the potential to shift a cultural paradigm and to completely rewire a mind. It gives readers the energy and spirit that they are certainly all searching for. Its message is profound; no one should work for the happiness of anyone but himself. No one should surrender his values to the needs of anyone else.
We work for ourselves and only for ourselves.

Galt's three hour speech can be a tedious read, but the fundamental messages are ones important to the whole of humanity. They are the messages that all our lives we have been taught not to know.
Since our birth, we have, in essence, unlearned everything that makes us human.
In today's society, selfishness is heavily frowned upon. Success is condemned, and the successful hated. The men who do not share their money or feel pity are seen as inhuman, disgusting, and evil. 

Last summer, I read a book called The Psychopath Test, which made the disturbing claim that psychopaths are the most successful people on Earth. The book stated that psychopaths are those who have immeasurable charisma, and a stunning incapability to feel emotion. It is precisely for this reason that they climb the rungs of the ladder of business. They step over others for the sake of themselves and do not have a care in the world for the people who deserve pity.

The characters in Atlas Shrugged are not psychopaths; they are the highest form of a human a person can hope to be. There is, however, a parallel to be drawn between the way the public in Atlas Shrugged perceives Dagny and Hank, to the way in which our society perceives the selfish and the psychopathic. More than once, I have heard successful people branded as emotionless, sick, and twisted. It is as if not feeling pity for certain people classifies a person as not being capable of pity at all.
Hank Rearden's family criticizes him for not showing love, yet they do not feel the need to care for him in return. They want his attention and support without deserving it.

When a person refuses to help another, the public finds it disgraceful. They claim it has always been a man's moral duty to help others. Atlas Shrugged makes us question this notion; should we help a person who does not deserve to be helped? Do we need to waste time and money on the people who refuse to live at all?

The characters in Atlas Shrugged do not lack emotion; in fact, they feel far more emotion than the average human.

What sets them apart are their fervent desires to live.

When Galt sits trapped at the hands of the men in Washington, Thompson asks him, "Don't you want to live?" 

Galt replies, "Passionately".

It is this passion and ability that renders these characters the most hated people in the world. Instead of trying to be like them, the public resorts to condemning them in hatred for what they can never achieve.

In order to progress as a society, we must reject the notions of success as a sin. The origins of these values lie centuries ago, when the first commandments of religion were created to control the masses. Feeling guilt for pursuing that which gives one pleasure is self-induced torture.
Relying on laws that were set centuries ago is pure delusion.
I read a book a couple of years ago named The God Part of the Brain. It claims that every civilization that has ever existed has developed religion for the sake of self-preservation.
What separates humans from their fellow animals is their ability to be self aware. This consciousness makes them capable of acting to seek their own happiness, but it also allows them to seek self-destruction. With self awareness comes the ability to look to the future. This ability also grants humans the insight to understand their eventual fate of death.
A species that comprehends its eventual death has no reason to go on. Each member will destroy himself, or they will all destroy one another. The book I read claims that the propensity for religion is a trait selected as all traits are; through natural selection.

Religion has become a tool to reassure humans that what they achieve is not pointless and that the end is not really the end. It is, in truth, a means of self delusion to prove that A is non A.
We must think further than that. We must come to terms with our fates and make the decision to live while we are alive.

In order to find happiness, we must reject those who try to control us. It is the only way we can break free.