Jun

28

Ayn RandFinally I could invest the time to start reading Atlas Shrugged. I have chosen the word invest advisedly here; I have finished reading Part I and decided to take a pause at the end of page 312.

Bearing fully in mind the introduction by Leonard Peikoff that begins by stating that Ayn Rand held that art is a “re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value judgments”, it strikes me very hard to seek your opinion if really in the America of the last century there indeed were characters such as Jim Taggart, Orren Boyle and the sort of hoi polloi that has been described continuously in these 312 pages. I have no doubt that there were a lot of Dagny Taggarts, Hank Reardens, Ellis Wyatts who helped (re)build modern America further, but it beats me if really there was a time when the over-riding thought and action of the day was being shaped by Jim Taggart and Orren Boyle types as well. What do you think? Has the author erred in stretching the shadows far longer to produce the effect or was there really an America like that also?

Alex Castaldo attempts a reply:

You are not the first non-US reader of Ayn Rand to be puzzled by this question. As a foreign-born American I was surprised that her books were set in the US when you could easily come up with better examples of government/business connivance from other countries. Americans can consider themselves lucky that they are better off in this respect than some others. Indeed I have often asked myself where is the Italian Ayn Rand who would speak up about how some of Italy's wealthiest people have made their fortune largely through political connections and improper operations, and explain the difference between this and true entrepreneurship. Sadly he/she does not seem to exist (possibly for lack of readers).

Part of the answer may be that Ayn Rand was most familiar with Russia and the US, so of course she chose to write about these countries. Also, she was concerned about trends and developments rather than the immediate situation; the US in her books is perhaps the model of what could happen to any country if the disturbing developments she saw around her were to continue. Her books are, among other things, a plea for the US to retain (and improve) its traditional values and not adopt those of the then ruling class in Soviet Russia.


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4 Comments so far

  1. michael bonderer on June 28, 2008 9:17 pm

    Sushil baby, absolutely baby, in every city! Clever and enterprising men and women in every sector of human endeavor who have taste, moxie and and that something extra. It's been a while since I read Atlas Shrugged on the beaches of Poi Pu between swells, so perhaps dramaticized, but my impression, utterly true today. Just check out the top entrepeneur list (see Forbes 400 List) and delve into each and every character (Even Hank Rearden would probably have agreed to an Annie Libovitz-type pictoral spread at his Montana Ranch sometime during these stunning free-market, low-tax, free-trade years from 1980-present),then it may become clear to you too. Free Markets, Free People baby. Leverage global platforms and markets with killer apps and you too could fancy yourself as a latter day Hank Rearden. Do you know how many thousands of Americans have a $50 million fortune or more? Even $200 million or more? Like tons! Your question is f—ing shocking! (No offense) Free markets, Free People Baby! This ethos which has led to these aforementioned results will once again be challenged in November, but we've been here before and be rest assured Brand America will continue to turn out the Hank Rearden and Dagney Taggert lines for a long time to come!

  2. Craig Bowles on June 30, 2008 7:21 am

    We’re in an ideological battle currently. Bernanke says the Fed didn’t do enough in the 1930s but the Austrians said they did too much and strung it out. (Even the then head of the Fed admitted that after the depression dragged on.) Bernanke wants to prove Hayek and the rest wrong. We’re part of the experiment. The coincident index shows the economy is probably in the 8th month of a recession. When have we ever worried about inflation so late in recession? What would or will increasing rates do to the current recession? If the Fed wasn’t so active, would congress even be talking about limiting speculation in commodities?

  3. Andrew West on July 1, 2008 11:15 pm

    This is not meant to be a historical novel but rather a novel of ideas. These characters were not meant to specifically represent historical characters, they were created to represent a certain type of person, and sometimes, a specific personification of a particular philosophical error (or a particular set of virtues). I will not give too much away, as the book is a mystery novel, and you are only 1/3 of the way through. But all of these characters will develop over the course of the book and reveal their essences.

    Enjoy!

  4. Lon Evans on July 9, 2008 10:11 am

    Mr. Kedia,

    You are right on the money. Annie painted with very broad strokes, yes, even laughable ones. As well, she was a bit of a whack job, if we can take her consistent utilization of rape scenarios (the heroine craves the abuse) as an indicator. By the way, Greenspan was an acolyte of Ms. Rand, back in the day, when she attempted to form her own little elite society. She eventually dismissed him as a “climber.”

    lon

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