Final Reaction

After I scribbled down my last annotation and closed Atlas Shrugged, I was left in a mindset of vulnerability and confusion caused by my new insight on human nature and interaction. My heart cringes a little bit more when I exit our English room and see faults in our society identical to the ones in Atlas Shrugged. I don’t know whether to give credit to Ayn Rand who had such a clear grasp on the American government and transferred her emotions perfectly on paper or to hate her because I am left feeling insecure and worried about my future and the changing societal values. However, maybe it is for the better that I see the potential outcomes of liberalism and socialism, especially when I have spent the majority of my life in progressive institutions like schools. After reading the novel, I am left with a new perspective on money and existence.

“He raised his hand and over the desolate earth he traced in space the sign of the dollar,” (pg. 1069.) The sign of the dollar is the emblem of the utopia of greed, the rational being, and free trade and free minds. In Dagny’s perspective, this sign that had once marked destruction has become a sign of deliverance. The desolate earth justifies the sign of the dollar because it is waiting for the industrialists’ to retake truthful reign over the land. The Washington DC politicians have extrapolated the earth to its limit, causing their control over American citizens and the economy to wither away into nothing.  Through John Galt’s motion over the desolate earth, he is reclaiming the arena that his fellow industrialists will compete over to gain the most profit and to promote their self-progress. To the Atlantis industrialists, the dollar is not the exchange of meaningless rectangle papers that’s artificial value is faith and cooperation. Instead, it’s the exchange of autonomous labor that’s true value is clear business development. The sign of the dollar will be the foundation for the new industrialist era that supports the ethics of greed, life, egoism, and the commitment to doing the best within human ability.

The commitment to doing the best within human ability is a particularly large component of the industrialists’ outlook on their moral code, which causes rational decisions and profitable actions. Throughout the book, the Washington DC officials always blame their failures on the fact that they can never act perfectly in every situation. They remained attached to the idea that brotherhood would fix any fault in their system, which only led to more discouraged laborers and the creation of more regulations and directives. On pg. 1068, Rand describes Ragnar reading a volume of Aristotle’s works about the foundation of the industrialists’ moral code, “…for these truths hold good for everything that is, and not for some special genus apart from others. And all men use them, because they are true of being qua being.” Aristotle stretches the industrialists’ moral code to all men who are fully committed to the mind and life and applies it to all differing scenarios. All humans can access the versatility of “A is A” and its universal application. My favorite part of that quote is the phrase “being qua being,” which I translate as living in your utmost potential at the spur of the moment. Not only does this apply to the industrialists’ decisions to disappear to Atlantis and lead their own life without regulations, but it also draws attention on Rand’s atheism. I think that atheism is a side effect of objectivism, which states that human values and knowledge are determined by nature of reality. This is the essence of “being qua being,” people seeking profit and progress should solely focus on the reality and forget about the bullshit of karma, faith, predetermination.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It was long, redundant, and monotonous at the expense of driving Rand’s ideas into our souls and minds. I have read plenty of books and stories in English classes that I forget in a year or two (although, they suddenly showed up in my SAT essays.) I am certain that it is safe for me to assume that I will never forget the ideologies expressed in this novel, including objectivism and individualism. The majority of my future decisions and actions will probably stem out of these themes. Yet, I think that Rand’s focus on selfishness and greed is not practical in society, even though they are necessary. Unfortunately, these rights are trapped in unforgiving negative connotations.