CapitalistImperialistPig

Done at last and somehow I feel that I ought to have something to say about the whole thing.  I undertook this to try to find out why so many people seem to find this book so inspirational.  I guess that I've said enough about why I don't like it .  There are a few sentiments expressed in the book that I can applaud: having a purpose and a goal, for example(like *finish*this*damn*book*, perhaps). So why did I invest a large part of my free time over the past few weeks in these 2/3 of a million words?  I had read some Rand before and was pretty confident that I wouldn't like this one or learn much from it.  I blame Bobby Fisher. I have been fascinated by his peculiar tragedy for nearly half a century.  What caused this brilliant individual to launch into a succession of progressively more self-destrustive acts even as he reached a peak of success?  Frank Brady's excellent book, Endgame: Bobby Fisher's Remarkable Rise and Fall , gave me a theory...

Yes, I listened to the speech - the whoo-ho-hole thing, all leventy'leven hours of it. Congratulations, you are now screwing the most tiresome bore in the history of the multiverse. And, yes, it's true about Frisco and I - but don't take it personally that we both gave up on women after you. We are a couple - not that we would be if there were any chicks in this People's Hellhole de Colorado. What I wouldn't give right now for the chance to buffalo one bureaucrat or confuse a tax collector. I'm going nuts. I didn't become a master metallurgist just to become the country blacksmith to a bunch of vacant eyed wackos - no offense. How do you bust out of this joint, anyway - you managed it once? Smooches, Hank

This is the story of a very powerful wizard who, at a crucial moment in human history, when everything has gone to crap from a combination of his sabotage, witless leadership, and the awful burden of a false morality, uses his invincible magical spell to sieze control of all the world's radios. The speech he gives is a little like one of those you hear from the dirty and wild-haired homeless man on the street corner.  There is a lot of talk how everybody is getting just what they deserve for believing some theory of existence other than his, and then he expounds that theory at considerable length.   I shouldn't be too hard on the author. These are the heartfelt thoughts of an original and fairly intelligent erson who has worked hard to develop a theory of human nature from scratch.It's passionate, rising ocassionally to something approaching eloquence, but ultimately I am reminded of the review that goes something like this: "this work contains material tha...

Page 859 and sometimes I get so bored I need to distract myself with a post. I have been collecting some virtues and vices ala Rand. Nietzsche would recognize them: Wisdom of Ayn Rand Good..................................... Evil Selfishness ...........................Altruism Business ...............................Government Mind ...........................,,,......Emotion Ordinary Hood ....................Robin. Hood Sabotage .............................Taxes = Murder = Cannibalism Strength ..............................Weakness Justice .................................Charity Ruthlessness .......................Pity Laissez Faire Capitalism ...Anything Else Certainty ............................Uncertainty Self Righteous Whining (good guys) ..........Self Righteous Whining (bad guys) Greed .................................Need Egocentricity .....................Family Feeling Engineering .......................Science Sex for Dagny ...................Sex for A...

From a literary standpoint, one thing that Atlas Shrugged lacks is interesting villains.  The most interesting villain, such as he is, is James Taggert, the brother of our heroine.  Rand's obsessive need to degrade anyone not espousing the party line keeps him from being actually interesting, but you can see some hints nonetheless.  In many ways Taggert is a more real businessman and capitalist than her heroes.  Her heroes prosper by various feats of magic - conjuring electricity from the air, oil from a stone, and high temperature alloys from mixture of copper and iron - but Taggert's art is the art of the deal, made to look as disgusting and disreputable as possible, but still recognizably closer to what many businessmen spend their efforts on. For those who, unlike Rand, prefer not to fake their reality to fit the religion of the cult, this kind of deal making is a more fundamental aspect of human nature than the kind of "make the trains run...

It's possible to create a fairly consistent world picture, if you are willing to disregard that nasty old reality stuff.  Listen, for a few seconds, to Galt's explanation: Did it ever occur to you, Miss Taggart,” said Galt...”that there is no conflict of interests among men, neither in business nor in trade nor in their most personal desires-if they omit the irrational from their view of the possible and destruction from their view of the practical?  There is no conflict, and no call for sacrifice, and no man is a threat to the aims of another- if men understand that reality is an absolute not to be faked , that lies do not work, that the unearned cannot be had, that the undeserved cannot be given, that the destruction of a value which is, will not bring value to that which isn’t.  The businessman who wishes to gain a market by throttling a superior competitor,  the worker who wants a share of his employers wealth,  the artist who envies a rivals higher talent...

Having reached Rivendell*, where formerly fierce industrialists now cavort happily as janitors and handmen - because now they don't have to pay taxes, I guess, I find myself excruciatingly bored.  I fear the feel of an oncoming interminable speech, maybe, from that ferret faced little shit Galt. I may need to abandon this ship for a bit. *Or whatever the hell it is.

Harry Potter, told from the point of view of Bellatrix Lestrange.  In accord with that, all traces of wit, charm and humor have been omitted, making room for 1100 pages of tedious ranting.  POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT:   I think Riddle is going to win.

Rand is starting to make a lot more sense to me - should I worry about that? Maybe John Galt was working for Goldman-Sachs in 2007 - together with Rand's boy Greenspan they engineered the great meltdown that almost worked to bring down civilization.

It is reported that Atlas Shrugged contains 645,000 words. Approximately 1/3 of them consist of repetitions of the phrase "It wasn't my fault" or variations thereof. That is all.

If I read one more idiot (JT, Ch. 9) reciting the idiotic versions of the philosophy Rand thinks she attacking I really shall really scream. AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........! OK, so that was only a virtual scream. Sue me. Glenn Beck can construct a better strawman than this. OK, maybe I should stop and do something more interesting. Like, maybe, translating the internal revenue code into ancient Sumerian.

It's a long book, true, but so far it looks like it's going to pack enough action and drama to fill the pages of 35 page graphic novel - or at least a comic book.