We continue to have new members joins us. Last week Stella obtained her copy of Atlas Shrugged in the mail and began by reading the back part of the book that explains some of Ayn Rand’s philosophy called Objectivism. Based on her readings she posted a handful of interesting questions in the last post’s comment section. It will be fun to discuss those later when we have more of the book under our belts.
In last week’s chapter (THE IMMOVABLE MOVERS) it seems we began to get a glimpse of Ayn’s sense of what true capitalism looks like, at least its potential, as Dagny and Hank discuss business:
“I’ve been thinking of building a plant there in a few years. To save them your transportation charges.” He glanced at her. ”You’ll lose an awful lot of steel freight, if I do.”
“Go ahead. I’ll be satisfied with carrying your supplies, and the groceries for your workders, and the freight of the factories that will follow you there — and perhaps I won’t have time to notice that I’ve lost your stel. . . . What are you laughing at?”
“It’s wonderful.”
“What?”
“The way you don’t react as everybody else does nowadays.”
“Still, I must admit that for the time being your’e the most important single shipper of Taggart Transcontinental.” (page 85)
This week’s reading (we skipped a week) is roughly 42 pages depending on what edition you are reading, mine is page 89 to page 126.
What we’ve read to date:
- Part I-I THE THEME (page 3 - 26)
- Part I-II THE CHAIN (page 27 - 43)
- Part I-III THE TOP AND BOTTOM (pages 44 - 63)
- Part I-IV THE IMMOVABLE MOVERS (pages 64-89)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
John Roth 08.18.10 at 11:58 am
good job bro. i am enjoying the book and reading your blog and the comments.
walter.roth 08.18.10 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for the comment John! Where are you in the book, I’m glad you are enjoying. Hopefully my skipping a week didn’t throw you off.
I see on Facebook you noticed the copy of AtlasShrugged I bought to leave at the Elkhart Lake Worm cottage. Thought it was a good investment for a lucky unsuspecting person to come across and be sucked in.
Bruce 08.19.10 at 5:43 pm
Joining the discussion late, but I’ve read AS several (well,
maybe more than several) times. I think it’s a great story
even if you don’t buy Rand’s philosophy, although she does
beat you over the head with her ethical stance which
could get annoying if you are a strong dissenter.
I agree with most of her philosopy, particularly the
merits of capitalistic exchange and value to society
of the creative mind (applied to productivity.) I guess
that makes me a fan, but I also think she was a somewhat
flawed individual and that her thinking has some holes in
it, so that the best approach is just to co-opt the ideas that
work for you. At least, that’s what I’ve done
Regardless of which points work for you, chances are
good that Rand has provided strong supporting arguments
and logical thought about them, which is really her
strong suit.
The exchange Wally quotes above is a good example
one of my personal “Rand values”: it has Dagny and
Hank reveling in the mutual benefit that comes from
free exchange of goods and services. Hank’s final comment
(about how “everybody else reacts these days”) kind of
alludes to the antagonists in the book, who see business as a
system made up of friends, influence and coercion, rather
than an exchange of value for like value. Comparable to
businesses today that use strong lobbies and teams of
lawyers (no offense Lenny) to accomplish their purposes,
instead of relying on new creation and competitive destruction
of outdated ideas (i.e.– the music industry.)
One final thing to think about when reading Atlas Shrugged:
Rand belongs to the “Romantic” school of writing. She believed
the purpose of literature was to portray man as he could and
should be, that heroes in literature should represent man’s
highest values and potential. This is why all of her characters
are such over-the-top personalities, either rock solid and perfect,
or flawed to their very core, with not much in the middle. It takes
a little getting used to, because most fiction tries for realism and
making the characters completely believable as they’re written.
But if you consider the book an attempt to inspire, and don’t
demand that the characters be like average people, you’ll
be able to enjoy a great page-turner of a story and pick up some
thought-provoking ideas.
T. Clark 11.19.10 at 1:03 am
That passage is like mind sex! Love it!