>From this am WSJ . I am a fan of Rand, as are many others. But, I am
>one (rarely mentioned, but 'is' mentioned in this editorial);that has a
>problem with a seemingly lack of compassion in her ideology. Anyway,mirror
>this is an interesting commentary of how today's events seem to
>much of the fictional plot lines in Atlas Shrugged....bobf
>http://cartoonbox.slate.com/stevekelley/
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OPINION: DE GUSTIBUS JANUARY 9, 2009
'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years Article
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 carnagecaused
by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If onlypolitical
"Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and
appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd getout of
the current financial mess a lot faster.week,
Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing
and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out ofthis
Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of
economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when
1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.in their
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
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(sounds
title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income
like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and thestarting more
"Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from
than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite,competition
the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat
between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Whydidn't
Hank Paulson think of that?"Auto Industry
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
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 thefederal
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 more
The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged":
incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians willsubsidies
bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of
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, constructionthe
firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm
markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost.Yet,
as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent whowreck their
companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage"windfalls."
to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate
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 forblared: "Rail
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
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 appropriatesthe metal
the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that
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 theyinterest."
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
entrepreneur, the
Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the
risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Criticspolitical
dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's
admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warningthe economy
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
has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington.couldn't do that
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
. . . How would we pay government employees?"Barack
"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
Obama puts it.the more
David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to
promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets,
timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make"Atlas
Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novelof
recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't needto make a
movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living itright now."
Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal editorial
page.http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/crazygardens%40verizon.net
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123146363567166677.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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