Interesting concepts; message to Obama's SHEEP...

books:

	• Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand Plume, 1999 - 1200 pages average customer review:based on 1546 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Interesting concepts; message to Obama's SHEEP...

Although I wouldn't rank Rand's work as literary masterpieces, it's interesting and viable philosophy. I won't debate the current political divide - socialism/liberalism verses capitalism/conservatism, or my evolved position of libertarianism (tongue and cheek intended), but it fascinates me how many liberal voices, seemingly and obviously intelligent people, can be such sheep. And, yes I'm digressing beyond the book itself here. We've seem though out history the making of a great orator and how the masses, so wanting a "better" way have worshiped this one individual's pronouncement: "I will lead you to the promised land..." You'd think we'd learn by now. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Castro, Osama. All extremely charismatic, all promise, and all delivered what. The founding fathers of this country had a plan, and yes all less a few were what we would call racists by todays standard - this was the ignorance and accepted reality of the time...today's founding father would have a profoundly different heartfelt viewpoint. Back to our point...They had a detailed plan, an extremely thoughtful and insightful collaboration, based on what they understood works and doesn't work. And today, minus the corruption in both business and govt, it still stands as the formula for the creation of a higher standard of living for all. No, let me restate this. Despite the corruption of both business and govt, it still allows a higher standard of living for all. Imagine what would happen if the people in Washington had the same character and honor as just some of the founding fathers. Which leads me back to great oratory. Obama. I've searched, I've listened. His talk and example parallels, and by this I mean by promises only and not his intention as an evil doer, Stalin, Hitler, and the like. Obama is an empty suit. What does he bring to the table except good oratory. He's not pro American in terms of values. He's a socialist. Period. And, at this he's just a talker. Why do we in this day and age still have so many intelligent sheep? "Yeah if we only got tune ups and filled our tires...then we solve the gas price issue.." Obama is either badly misinformed or a stooge.

for more information click here

Ayn Rand. Best Seller for a reason.

There's a reason Ayn Rand has been on the top seller's list for multiple decades.

for more information click here

Atlas Shrugged

This is one of the best books I have ever read, I absolutely love it, I have told everyone about it. It is truely a good read.

The Second Coming of Capitalism

Every few years I pull out Atlas Shrugged and read it again. Amid an intensely structured writing style with detailed characterizations that would make Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton blush, I continue to find ideas that mirror the double-minded world in which we live.

A world where legislators complain about rising oil prices and jobs moving off-shore, punish those who the public perceives as the guilty party, and end up making things worse. A world where popular leaders are less concerned about the correctness of the ideas they advocate, but more concerned about the number of followers they can attract. A world where some highly publicized and popular ideas, if taken to their logical conclusion, would result in the eradication of mankind from this planet.

Ayn Rand attempted to identify the root causes of these behaviors and propose a solution in an epic end-of-the-world story. In brief, in some future or parallel world, everything is grinding to a halt. The primary producers are dropping out and disappearing. They are being replaced by people who are both humanistic and opportunistic, but not very knowledgeable. As a result, industry continues to collapse. Eventually the government steps in and in a series of directives are issued: each more severe and more socialistic. But each directive worsens the situation, until a dictator-like status is reached.

Amid this crisis, the book primarily traces the activities of two individuals: Dagny Taggart, in charge of the operations of the last Transcontinental Railroad, and Hank Rearden, the last of the steel barons. Both characters are very intelligent, responsible, and highly productive. Other important characters move in and out of the narrative: the good, the bad, and the indifferent, but Taggart and Rearden are used to discover the root causes of the world-wide collapse.

Near the novel's end, when the causes (according to Rand) are rooted out by both Taggart and Rearden, there is a long speech (Part 3, Chapter 7: "This is John Galt Speaking") that sums up Ayn Rand's philosophy. It is the notorious 50 page speech, which most people either skip over or browse rapidly. Unless one is reading Atlas Shrugged simply for entertainment, I recommend that you take the time to carefully read the "speech." There are a number of issues (especially her very anti-religious stance) that are spelled out and justified in that speech, but hardly touched in the book.

I believe that Ayn Rand correctly identified some of the root causes that contribute to this double-minded world, but in some areas, she incorrectly identifies the motivations for some groups, probably based on her prejudices. As a result, her solution is partly correct and partly incorrect.

Two trends, one strictly philosophical and the other religious, have contributed to the devaluing the mind and the worth of individuals. Since David Hume stated that no one could prove the existence of either the Mind or Matter, comedians have quipped "No Mind, Never Matter," and romantics have exploited the opening to push their own agendas. By subjugating the mind to feeling, as the Romantics have done, is a recipe for disaster. Rand believes that the reverse should be true, feelings subjugated to the mind.

For Ayn Rand, the mind and the rational process take precedence. For morality, the ability to produce. Religion, as is, is to be discarded, because it ultimately depends on a non-rational activity (the religious experience). So any morality based on a non-rational activity cannot be the basis of a moral code. Besides establishing a moral code on a religious basis, it is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from adopting a moral code from a romantic standard. So you can see where her anti-religious views arise.

For my part, I question whether mind or feeling should be subjugated to one or the other; believing, instead, that a delicate balance needs to be maintained else one falls into the warped condition experienced by the opposing sisters in "Sense and Sensibility." At a time when rhetoric is replacing rational thinking, especially in the political realm, the rational needs to be rebalanced with feelings (a terrible shock to most Romantics), else we too will face a world collapsing.

I also question Rand's attempt to replace a religious moral code with a purely rational moral code based solely on the ability to produce. The first objection, I admit, is solely emotional: that is, the image of Dagny Taggart as a willing sex-slave to the highest producer. Not based on love, that is irrational, rather attracted to the person exhibiting the highest morality, the ability to produce.

The second objection is purely practical: the atheist morality has one significant flaw that no one in Western thought has ever found a work-around - Pride. The ability to compete, no holds bared, without having to acknowledge any higher power would lead to a dog-eat-dog environment that would be Hell on earth for the majority of mankind. Heaven only for the producer, who can out fox, grab, or maneuver the other guy, even if the other guy has a better way - bury him!

My third objection is historic: for every Ford (who paid his staff above Union wage and implemented work safety processes) there were several dozen Andrew Carnegies, John D. Rockefellers, and J.P. Morgans (who abused their workers, stole others' ideas, and manipulated stock prices to increase their own income). Rand would protect all the above, although I suspect that Ford was closer to her model of Rearden then the later Industrialists.

Despite my objections, I believe that Ayn Rand correctly identified the imbalance between the rational and emotional as the underlying cause for the inability to produce or to solve significant political or economical problems. I still have to ponder her idea that the logical conclusion of the romantic is nullity. In any case, I will probably come back and re-read Atlas Shrugged many times in the future. Highly recommended.

for more information click here

Long but well worth the effort

There are sections of this book that can be a bit draining, but the overall message is important to discover. Read, think, read, think, rinse and repeat.

reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

"I like to think as opposed to just be told"
Sons of Liberty Underground Book List
Inspiration During Tough Times
Books I plan on reading
Live like a Lizard

search for books
atlas shrugged, atlas, shrugged

Impressum / about us