Posts Tagged ‘Ayn Rand’
Sunday, May 30, 2010 | Written by Jim Beach
Posted under: Entrepreneurship Quotes |
Tags: atlas shurgged, Ayn Rand, oil spill, politics of oil spill |
1 Comment
From the Ayn Rand Center,
That’s the politician’s answer to every intractable problem: give orders, issue threats, and wait for obedience. But the creative human mind cannot take orders like that. Notice I didn’t say, “refuses to take orders.” I said, “cannot take orders.”
By that I mean, the task of plugging a leak 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is an engineering feat. BP’s acknowledged role in causing the leak does not alter the fact that careful study, creative thought, and the exacting deployment of technical and mechanical skills over long distances are all necessary in order to fix the leak. No amount of jaw clenching or bug-eyed threats from politicians can bring the solution one inch closer to reality. The human mind does not operate by force from outside. . . .
Obama’s petulant outburst brings to mind a scene from Atlas Shruggedfeaturing Kip Chalmers, a politician who is traveling by train from Washington, D.C., to California, where he’s running for office. When the train’s diesel engine is destroyed by accidentally running over a split rail, Chalmers issues furious demands, expecting they will result in instant technical solutions:
“ ’God damn these railroad people!’ said Kip Chalmers. ‘They’re doing it on purpose. They want to ruin my campaign. I can’t miss that rally! For Christ’s sake, Lester, do something!’ ”
Tags: atlas shurgged, Ayn Rand, oil spill, politics of oil spill | Posted under Entrepreneurship Quotes | 1 Comment
Friday, January 8, 2010 | Written by Jim Beach
Posted under: General Thoughts, Government |
Tags: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, capitalism is bad, capitalism is good |
3 Comments
I have written about Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged before in this blog. Many entrepreneurs consider the it the best book ever written, and having sold seven million copies, it ranks as top all time seller. Surveys find it to be the second most influential book ever published, after the Bible. In the book, the creators of wealth go on strike in protest of increasing governmental control. Their refusal to be exploited results in the complete collapse of the economy. New York goes dark.
Her philosophy is that man should act in their rational self-interest, meaning they must pursue rationality, honesty, justice, independence, integrity, productiveness, and pride. Hard work is rewarded. Laziness is punished. Victims must not allow themselves to be used. Government is the problem. Property rights are absolute. The individual is absolute and must not do what feels good, but should figure out what is in their long-term rational self-interest. You do not give in to whims, but do what is in your long-term productive goals.
The book is one of the most revered and hated texts of all time. Lovers of the book cite her belief in individualism and self-sufficiency. Detractors claim it was written out of hate and that its story line was unrealistic. Today though, many people see the book coming to life before us. One central theme is the negative role of government, and as the government grows in size today, the book does seem to presage the current situation. A great question arises: “What similarities exist between the book and 2010?” And, “Who alive today is most like the book’s villain Wesley Mouch?”
- Consider that the nationalization of our economy and the TARP bill are eerily similar to Hank Rearden’s (a hero in the book) forced sale of his steel invention to the government.
- Consider Cass Sunstein, or current czar of regulation, and the book’s Steel Unification Plan.
- Consider the administration’s czar of executive compensation and “spreading the wealth around” and book’s Equalization of Opportunity Act.
- Consider anyone of tons of the groups asking for social progress today and the book’s Friends of Global Progress.
- Consider the minimum wage and the pay czar and the Preservation of Livelihood Law.
- Consider our competition czar and, “Each company paid according to its need.”
- Consider the attack on business, small and big, in today’s world and the book.
Yaron Brook, President of the Ayn Rand Institute, said, “Reality is outpacing fiction. It is far more radical than even happened in the book.”
And who is Wesley Mouch, a villain in the book? John Stossell conducted a poll with the results to the right…
Tags: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, capitalism is bad, capitalism is good | Posted under General Thoughts, Government | 3 Comments
Monday, August 3, 2009 | Written by Jim Beach
Posted under: General Thoughts |
Tags: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, capitalism |
1 Comment
A friend sent me a link to an article about Ayn Rand in the New York Times. First, I want to make it crystal clear that I do NOT read the New York Times. I consider it unworthy as a bird cage liner. It is trash. Second, I was shocked to learn that the Times even published an article about her, considering her work’s amazing insight into what is happening today. But, I was not shocked to see the bashing she took in the article. The author and all the quotes included barely contain their disdain for her views on the success of capitalism. Most importantly, the article advances the common belief that a lack of government insight and capitalism itself caused the current economic problems. Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank’s role were completely ignored, of course. Find the article here.
Allow me to quote from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, certainly one of the best books ever written. I cannot stress enough how important it is that all students of entrepreneurship read this book. She writes:
If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would chose the fact that they were
the people that created the phrase “to make money.” No other language or nation had ever used
these words before. Men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity, to be seized, begged,
inherited, shared, looted, or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth
has to be created. The words “to make money” hold the essence of human morality. Yet, now the
looter’s credo has brought you to regard your achievements as a hallmark of shame, your prosperity as
guilt. Your greatest men, the industrialists, as braggarts. And your magnificent factories as the product
and property of muscular labor, the labor of whip driven slaves. The man who simpers when he sees no
difference between the power of money and the power of the whip aught to learn the difference on his
own hide. Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own
destruction. When money ceases to be the tool with which men deal with each other, then men
become tools of men. Blood, whips, and guns. Or money. Take your choice, there is no other. And
your time is running out.
Tags: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, capitalism | Posted under General Thoughts | 1 Comment
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