According to one of a number of sources, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged has been flying off the shelves a little more often during the troubling times of these days. At first I was intrigued because I didn't understand, but the problem was that I thought way too much of people and that had I thought them to be dumber, it would make much more sense.
Those in a position of opulence have turned to the book for a verification to their resentment towards having to pay higher taxes in an Obama administration, bailouts etc. Admittedly the pay cap was bad, but this is about much more. The idea that anyone is "going Galt" is ridiculous. First of all, the entire financial crisis is a result of self-interest: people buying second homes, borrowing against all of their equity; self-interested C.E.O.s undermining shareholders by not fully recognizing risk; Politicians abusing urgency for their own personal interest. However the truth is that even though much of our problems do result because of self-interest, Ayn Rand's work (and specifically Atlas Shrugged) doesn't just promote "selfishness", it proposes that one should behave in such a manner so long as the act does not require that another sacrifice their own self-interest.: "I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
And this second part is exactly what most people aren't remembering when they're standing on their front lawns hands-next-to-holsters telling you to get off their property. By taking on too much risk, both people and banks have hurt themselves. In general, if you were not the brightest individual and I didn't know you and you came to me and said that you were going to go off to a commune by yourself so you could live life more ethically pure I would say, "go on ahead, have fun!". But if you've read the book, you know what the differences are. Firstly, our society is moving towards a more "socialist" (if you even want to call it that) route as a result of the financial crisis, not vice versa. Secondly, no one has disappeared. And lastly, people calling for a slow-down in work are gonna stay at home, use heat/gas, electricity, and keep going to Wal-mart for supplies. That's hardly "going Galt".
Now I'm no Objectivist. I've read much of her work, though. What bothers me is that there are so many conversations I hear of two parties debating Ayn Rand, and how often neither of them are even remotely familiar with the underlying philosophy. The good news is that some people have a sense of humor about this stuff. Here's the clip from the Colbert Report.
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