Atlas Shrugged: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years.

[Chris_]

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years
By STEPHEN MOORE

Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.
Rand, who had come to America from Soviet Russia with striking insights into totalitarianism and the destructiveness of socialism, was already a celebrity. The left, naturally, hated her. But as recently as 1991, a survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found that readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?

These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.
The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

When Rand was writing in the 1950s, one of the pillars of American industrial might was the railroads. In her novel the railroad owner, Dagny Taggart, an enterprising industrialist, has a FedEx-like vision for expansion and first-rate service by rail. But she is continuously badgered, cajoled, taxed, ruled and regulated -- always in the public interest -- into bankruptcy. Sound far-fetched? On the day I sat down to write this ode to "Atlas," a Wall Street Journal headline blared: "Rail Shippers Ask Congress to Regulate Freight Prices."

In one chapter of the book, an entrepreneur invents a new miracle metal -- stronger but lighter than steel. The government immediately appropriates the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that the metal inventor come to Washington and sign over ownership of his invention or lose everything.

The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."

Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.

One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:
Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"
Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"
"And you'll obey any order I give?"
"Implicitly!"
"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."
"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"
"Fire your government employees."
"Oh, no!"

Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus. But Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Washington want to do the opposite: to raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness" as Barack Obama puts it.
David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."

John Galt and I read this article this morning and just couldn't stop laughing.  It beats the hell out of the alternative - sobbing uncontrollably.

[Eupher]

Ayn Rand was a controversial figure in her own right, but I can't argue the main theme of the novel:

Once government begins to meddle into our affairs, they won't stop until we're dead.

A synonym I've often used for "government" is "parasite."

Thanks, D6, for posting that article. Saved me from reading it tonight since I get the WSJ at home.

[DixieBelle]

Thanks D6! Brilliant article.

[bijou]

John Galt and I read this article this morning and just couldn't stop laughing.  It beats the hell out of the alternative - sobbing uncontrollably.

I couldn't agree more with your last sentence, we are much further down the line here in the UK and things are getting worse.

[GOP Congress]

I have considered what is called a "Litmus Test" in determining our best candidates for 2010 in Congress. In fact, I will probably make a special indication to whether a candidate or potential candidate read this book. I had considered it before, but with your experience with the Cato Institute, it will significantly make me consider it and address it with my partner. Thanks for the story!

[GOP Congress]

Don't worry...I'll know. But it is a fair question.

In general, I will know by their overall understanding the REASON why tyranny is created in the first place, MOST of it from "good intentions." Such good intentions include "getting along" with the democrats, which today is tantamount to getting along with Stalin, Castro, and other dictators.

If they've not just read the book, but can recognize the progression of tyranny that is now so blatant with the current congress, media, and Europe, then I consider it a success. I cannot imagine a true conservative who, after reading the book, can honestly legislate against its tenets.

[JohnnyReb]

"Atlas Shrugged" and the "Peter Principle" should be required "study" in high school....hell they get to vote at 18 now don't they?

[rich_t]

I guess I'm going to have to break down and actually read that book someday soon.

[Chris_]

I guess I'm going to have to break down and actually read that book someday soon.

If Hooked on Phonics wasn't exactly a paragon of success for you - or if you're just too damned busy shoveling your hard earned into the fireboxes of Obama-topia - they sell it as an audio book; it's unabridged format is about 60 hours long, and $30 at Amazon.

[rich_t]

If Hooked on Phonics wasn't exactly a paragon of success for you - or if you're just too damned busy shoveling your hard earned into the fireboxes of Obama-topia - they sell it as an audio book; it's unabridged format is about 60 hours long, and $30 at Amazon.

Now that I am recently laid-off, I'll have the time to find a copy and read it.  It's just a book that I keep forgetting to put on my reading wish list.

[Bok_Tukalo]

Objectivism is literally infantile. 

Glad I got over it.  Sorry it wasn't until my twenties since most get over it around the age of four.

[rich_t]

Objectivism is literally infantile. 

Glad I got over it.  Sorry it wasn't until my twenties since most get over it around the age of four.

I'm afraid you are going to have to translate that one for me.

[ReardenSteel]

Best book ever. Mind growing, thought producing and an American triumph.

The non-fiction Ayn Rand is even better. 

[rich_t]

Ok Ok Ok

I'll read it soon, I promise.

[ReardenSteel]

Ok Ok Ok

I'll read it soon, I promise.

LOL

It's a jouney but it's worth it. My sig line is from a part of the novel called "Francisco's money speech".

Just a taste of what is to come. 
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=1826

[The Village Idiot]

John Galt was not a heroic businessman he was an inventor

[GOP Congress]

For just about everything you need to know but the book itself, Cliff Notes has a complete synopsis, character analyses, and even the essays that make up the main theme of the book.

Cliff Notes for Atlas Shrugged