Reading Suggestion For The Year
Atlas Shrugged should be required reading more frequently in high school and collegiate curriculum. I'm shocked by how relevant the book's spectrum of subjects are to present day, over 50 years after it's initial publication. My academic experience has never given me a greater feeling of disappointment than this recent discovery.
Like for most people I had heard the name dropped several times but had never met anyone who actually read it. I remember at one point I found a copy of the book on a shelf in school. I noted only its ridiculous length of over a thousand pages before quickly walking away, lacking both the courage and patience to slay that kind of monstrosity. To hide my shame, I put it on my to-do-list where I had assumed it would be for a very long time. This is something worth being read but very difficult to jump into. Even someone interested in undertaking Ayn Rand's magnum opus needs a little push.
A Juicy Excerpt:
"I thought you would consider the San Sebastian Mines as the practical realization of an ideal of the highest moral order. Remembering that you and I have disagreed so often in the past, I thought you would be gratified to see me acting in accordance with your principles."
"What are you talking about?"
Francisco shook his head regretfully. "I don't know why you should call my behavior rotten. I thought you would recognize it as an honest effort to practice what the whole world is preaching. Doesn't everyone believe that it is evil to be selfish? I was totally selfless in regard to the San Sebastian project. Isn't it evil to pursue a personal interest? I had no personal interest in it whatever. Isn't it evil to work for profit? I did not work for profit-I took a loss. Doesn't everyone agree that the purpose and justification of an industrial enterprise are not production, but the livelihood of its employees? The San Sebastian Mines were the most eminently successful venture in industrial history: they produced no copper, but they provided a livelihood for thousands of men who could not have achieved, in a lifetime, the equivalent of what they got for one day's work, which they could not do. Isn't it generally agreed that an owner is a parasite and an exploiter, that it is the employees who do all the work and make the product possible? I did not exploit anyone. I did not burden the San Sebastian Mines with my useless presence; I left them in the hands of the men who count. I did not pass judgment on the value of that property. I turned it over to a mining specialist. He was not a very good specialist, but he needed the job very badly. Isn't it generally conceded that when you hire a man for a job, it is his need that counts, not his ability? Doesn't everyone believe that in order to get the goods, all you have to do is need them? I have carried out every moral precept of our age. I expected gratitude and a citation of honor. I do not understand why I am being damned."
In the silence of those who had listened, the sole comment was the shrill, sudden giggle of Betty Pope: she had understood nothing, but she saw the look of helpless fury on James Taggart's face.
People were looking at Taggart, expecting an answer. They were indifferent to the issue, they were merely amused by the spectacle of someone's embarrassment. Taggart achieved a patronizing smile. "You don't expect me to take this seriously?" he asked.
"There was a time," Francisco answered, "when I did not believe that anyone could take it seriously. I was wrong."
Although it has been cited as an inspiration for those in defense of free markets and free minds, it's very fair when it explores them. To be honest, I think it might be an even greater necessary read for anyone in favor of alternative economic ideas and intellectually honest with themselves. It's also been fairly accurately described as a dystopian novel à la mode de 1984 and as I've said before it also mirrors modern day, so if thats your bag I recommend it to you as well.
Like for most people I had heard the name dropped several times but had never met anyone who actually read it. I remember at one point I found a copy of the book on a shelf in school. I noted only its ridiculous length of over a thousand pages before quickly walking away, lacking both the courage and patience to slay that kind of monstrosity. To hide my shame, I put it on my to-do-list where I had assumed it would be for a very long time. This is something worth being read but very difficult to jump into. Even someone interested in undertaking Ayn Rand's magnum opus needs a little push.
A Juicy Excerpt:
"I thought you would consider the San Sebastian Mines as the practical realization of an ideal of the highest moral order. Remembering that you and I have disagreed so often in the past, I thought you would be gratified to see me acting in accordance with your principles."
"What are you talking about?"
Francisco shook his head regretfully. "I don't know why you should call my behavior rotten. I thought you would recognize it as an honest effort to practice what the whole world is preaching. Doesn't everyone believe that it is evil to be selfish? I was totally selfless in regard to the San Sebastian project. Isn't it evil to pursue a personal interest? I had no personal interest in it whatever. Isn't it evil to work for profit? I did not work for profit-I took a loss. Doesn't everyone agree that the purpose and justification of an industrial enterprise are not production, but the livelihood of its employees? The San Sebastian Mines were the most eminently successful venture in industrial history: they produced no copper, but they provided a livelihood for thousands of men who could not have achieved, in a lifetime, the equivalent of what they got for one day's work, which they could not do. Isn't it generally agreed that an owner is a parasite and an exploiter, that it is the employees who do all the work and make the product possible? I did not exploit anyone. I did not burden the San Sebastian Mines with my useless presence; I left them in the hands of the men who count. I did not pass judgment on the value of that property. I turned it over to a mining specialist. He was not a very good specialist, but he needed the job very badly. Isn't it generally conceded that when you hire a man for a job, it is his need that counts, not his ability? Doesn't everyone believe that in order to get the goods, all you have to do is need them? I have carried out every moral precept of our age. I expected gratitude and a citation of honor. I do not understand why I am being damned."
In the silence of those who had listened, the sole comment was the shrill, sudden giggle of Betty Pope: she had understood nothing, but she saw the look of helpless fury on James Taggart's face.
People were looking at Taggart, expecting an answer. They were indifferent to the issue, they were merely amused by the spectacle of someone's embarrassment. Taggart achieved a patronizing smile. "You don't expect me to take this seriously?" he asked.
"There was a time," Francisco answered, "when I did not believe that anyone could take it seriously. I was wrong."
Although it has been cited as an inspiration for those in defense of free markets and free minds, it's very fair when it explores them. To be honest, I think it might be an even greater necessary read for anyone in favor of alternative economic ideas and intellectually honest with themselves. It's also been fairly accurately described as a dystopian novel à la mode de 1984 and as I've said before it also mirrors modern day, so if thats your bag I recommend it to you as well.