The part that of the book that I have currently found myself is undoubtedly the most unrealistic out of everything in the entire story. Dagny crash landing into a Utopian-like society run by all of the “vanished” business moguls and tycoons from across the United States was so unrealistic to me, that I thought it may have been a dream or a hallucination from the plane crash. This part of the story has been the only part that I find myself not liking the message that Rand is conveying. In my opinion, a real leader, assuming that is what John Galt and his fellow businessmen are supposed to be, does not give up when the going gets tough. A real leader, in my personal opinion, defies all odds in times like the ones in the book. The looters certainly create a hectic economic and social climate, but it should be looked as just another challenge for the leaders to conquer. That, to me, separates the leaders from the followers. The leaders are the ones that do not give up and make a pathetic excuse for a “utopian” society in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. I truly and deeply hope that Dagny Taggart does not join this society permanently. I just do not agree with what these men are doing. I fully understand that they do not want to be taken advantage of, and that they pride themselves on not being charitable, but in the fact that they thrive on capitalism. I completely agree with all of these aspects. What I do not understand is where they are going to go form this point forward with their little society. All they seem to be doing is playing house, having brilliant surgeons tend to minor bruises, genius inventors sell chicken eggs, it just seems like a waste of intelligence. Collectively, the group has so much ingenuity that I am sure they could use their connections and power to better the economic environment to ensure the nation’s prosperity. They seem to know some secret as to how the world should be run, which is why they have created this valley. None of them really seem to be doing anything productive whatsoever. It almost seems like they are just trying to punish the world around them for taking advantage of them through the harsh tax codes and strict directives, but that to me signifies that they really are not the people that should be running the world if they are able to abandon it so quickly. I remain hopeful that Dagny has some shred of faith in hummanity to know that it is not a complete loss. After all, there are more than just the ten or so business executives in Galt’s valley that know have proper work ethic.
I agreed with you about Midas’ Valley. When I read it, I thought that it was some sort of joke or hallucination. The whole thing is a bit of a stretch, but the truth is that I thought the whole plot line was unrealistic at first. Until, it started to occur in our own nation. The government shut down, unprecedented debts, and incompetent leaders, it following the same fate as Ayn Rands’ fictional world. If the world began to shut down and it was possible to find a giant space not on the map, and the world's greatest minds were all together, don't you think they would produce some place amazing? If there was nothing to stop them, no restriction or rules, don’t you think they would make something great? Perhaps, not as fanciful as Ayn Rand's Galt Gulth but something similar. If they were able to have access to unlimited resources, then I believe that they could create an incredible city.
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ReplyDeleteDavis makes some good points on his latest reading of the novel, but I cannot help and disagree with his opinion on the business leaders, why they’ve decided to disappear and the purpose of the valley. Davis you state that a true “leader defies all odds in times like the ones in the book.” The looters have almost made it impossible for the business leaders to produce. They have destroyed their motivation to continue running their companies by stealing from them, taking advantage of them and imposing new rules that directly affect them. There is no reason a person should continue to work for someone else if their primary purpose is to make that persons life more difficult. I mean look at Dagny and Hank. Dagny an inspirational women thought to solve all problems is now facing rules and laws that threaten her company as a whole and Hank, the man who discovered the worlds most famous metal is stripped from his prize possession, faces rules that limit his production and now under the looters is forced to help Orren Boyle, his competitor remain in the business. The people who are currently in the valley are tired of putting up with the looters bullshit; they know that without them the looters will have no one to steal off of and thus eventually will fall. This is the purpose of the valley – to have a place to hide and wait it out until the looters are gone. When that time comes John Galt and his followers will rebuild the country without any government restrictions, which will lead to success.