Polemical novels, such as The Fountainhead (1943), of primarily known Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, originally Alisa Rosenbaum, espouse the doctrines of objectivism and political libertarianism.
Fiction of this better author and philosopher developed a system that she named. Educated, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early initially duds and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame. In 1957, she published Atlas Shrugged, her best-selling work.
Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. She condemned the immoral initiation of force and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system, based on recognizing individual rights, including private property. Often associated with the modern movement in the United States, Rand opposed and viewed anarchism. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She sharply criticized most philosophers and their traditions with few exceptions.
Books of Rand sold more than 37 million copies. From literary critics, her fiction received mixed reviews with more negative reviews for her later work. Afterward, she turned to nonfiction to promote her philosophy, published her own periodicals, and released several collections of essays until her death in 1982.
After her death, her ideas interested academics, but philosophers generally ignored or rejected her and argued that her approach and work lack methodological rigor. She influenced some right conservatives. The movement circulates her ideas to the public and in academic settings.
Hello, my name is Andrew Ryan and I'm here to ask you a question: Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? "No," says the man in Washington, "it belongs to the poor." "No," says the man in the Vatican, "it belongs to God." "No," says the man in Moscow, "it belongs to everyone." I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible.
In the second book, the world is collapsing in depravity and moral crises. Atlas is getting gravely shrugged.
There are so many intense and powerfully charged moments that I can't cover them all, and instead of writing about them, I will point them out in an unusual but very structural way. They make immense sense even without the context, and at the same time, I wouldn't consider them spoilers.
1. Francisco d'Anconia's money speech: part of it here ->
2. Dagny's investigation that brings her to a diner where a renowned philosopher makes sandwiches. His words are the next clue to the mystery:
"The secret you are trying to solve invloves something greater, much greater than the invention of a motor run by atmospheric electricity. There is only one helpful suggestion that I can give you: By the essence and nature of existense, contradictions can not exist. If you find it inconceivable that an invention of genius should be abandoned among ruins, and that a philosopher should wish to work as a cook in a diner -check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong."
3. The moral corruption of the political system. The directives that they issue aim to repress successful people that have ability and money. The productive people are made guilty because their work and ideas are better and have more value and that people are willing to pay them money for their product. The politicians and "their people" claim that they have moral principles, but everything they say seems vicious and rotten:
a. Dr Ferris: "Production is not a private choice but a public duty. They have no right to fail no matter what conditions come up. Producing is a social imperative. A man's work is not s private matter it's a social matter. There is no such thing as a personal life."
b. James Taggart: "We have to run the world for the sake of the little people. It's intelligence that is causing all the trouble with humanity. Man's mind is the root of all evil. This is the day of the heart. It's the weak, the meek, the sick and the humble that must be the only objects of our concern. Those that are big are here to serve those that aren't. It's their moral duty.If they refuse we have to force them."
c. Dr Ferris again: "Genius is a superstition. There's no such thing as the intellect. A man's brain is a social product. A sum of influences that he's picked up from those around him. Nobody invents anything, he merely reflects what's floating in the social atmosphere. A genius is an intellectual scavenger and a greedy hoarder of the ideas which rightfully belong to society, from which he stole them. All thought is theft."
4. The end of the chapter "The moratorium of brains" when we understand the point of view of the people on the train:
a. A worker that believes that he has a right to a job no matter if his employer wanted him or not. b. A professor that believes in the abolition of private property: "Intelligence plays no part in industrial production. Everybody can run a factory or a railroad, and it's only a matter of seizing the machinery." c. A mother of two children and a wife of a man with a government job that forces directives: "I don't care. It's only the rich that they hurt. After all, I must think of my children". This family's fate is very ironic. d. A housewife that believes she has the right to elect politicians of whom she knew nothing to control giant industries of which she had no knowledge. e. A lawyer: "Me, I will get a way to get along any political system."
5. The speech of the worker from the Twentieth Century Motor Company
6. Dagny's thoughts on the shape of the human life:
"It is not proper for man's life to be a circle or a string of circles dropping off like zeros behind him-- man's life must be a straight line of motion from goal to farther goal, each leading to the next and to a single growing sum, like a journey down the track of a railroad, from station to station."
7. Owen Kellogg's dollar sign explanation:
"The dollar sign? It stands for a great deal. It stands on the vest of every fat, piglike figure in every cartoon, for the purpose of denoting a crook, a grafter, a scoundrel鈥攁s the one sure-fire brand of evil. It stands鈥攁s the money of a free country鈥攆or achievement, for success, for ability, for man's creative power鈥攁nd, precisely for these reasons, it is used as a brand of infamy鈥�. Incidentally, do you know where that sign comes from? It stands for the initials of the United States. This was the only country in history where wealth was not acquired by looting, but by production, not by force, but by trade, the only country whose money was the symbol of man's right to his own mind, to his work, to his life, to his happiness, to himself. If this is evil, by the present standards of the world, if this is the reason for damning us, then we鈥攚e, the dollar chasers and makers鈥攁ccept it and choose to be damned by that world. We choose to wear the sign of the dollar on our foreheads, proudly, as our badge of nobility鈥攖he badge we are willing to live for and, if need be, to die."
My all time favourite book. It is a novel based on Objectivism philosophy of Ayn Rand. Though initial parts of the book seem to be too long, too comprehensive in carving out the characters and their backgrounds, the later parts are just page-turning and truly remarkable. The masterstroke of author in this is the imaginary scenario: what if the Atlas (mythical) who holds the globe, shrugs. Meaning that if the minds driving the world stop contributing, then everything would come to a total standstill. Basically the book is a vocal and compelling espousal of the capitalistic philosophy. It wishes to steer the world to value intellectuals and wealth creators. No wonder, I love the book madly and absolutely for I strongly believe that merit and intelligence need to be valued and respected. But, I do not subscribe to this philosophy in totality as I believe communism is equally important, especially affirmative action for the weaker sections of society. One can clearly notice that in all books of Ayn Rand, her protagonists find themselves isolated, longing for love, unhappy and in a quagmire of sorts. Had they accorded value to community, things would have been different. I feel that the real purpose of all growth is to find that true happiness and satisfaction, which invariably comes from sharing and caring. On this the author and I agree to disagree.
Yet, it is a truly spellbinding read and I recommend it to all those who like philosophical fiction with determined protagonists.
,,Te-ai 卯ntrebat vreodat膬 care este r膬d膬cina banilor?Banii sunt un obiect de schimb,care nu poate exista dac膬 nu exist膬 bunuri produse 葯i oameni capabili s膬 le produc膬. Banii sunt forma material膬 a principiului care spune c膬 oamenii care 卯葯i doresc s膬 aib膬 de a face unul cu cel膬lalt trebuie s膬 aib膬 de a face cu schimbul 葯i s膬 dea valoare 卯n schimbul valorii. Banii nu sunt ustensila 葯mecherilor,care-葲i revendic膬 produsul folosindu-se de lacrimi,ori cea a t芒lharilor,care 葲i-l iau de-a sila.Banii pot exista doar prin oamenii care produc.,,
Very long, but with a frightening perspective of our country's current road to ruin that bears reading. Rand was very prophetic...based upon the fact alone, that in 1968 there were 51 people working for every person on disability, while today there are only 13 people working for each one. That doesn't take into account the welfare recipients, food stamps, government phones, etc. etc. etc. that taxpayers (the few who are left) are covering.
As with the first book, this one as well was a great pleasure to read! I think that Rand is one of the best and this story resonates with me and the current predicament of Greece (where I'm from) so much that I can't help but wish that our more people read this book before they formed an opinion about politics.
Kapitalist bir sistem aktif/莽al谋艧an/眉reten/hizmet sa臒layanlar谋n eme臒ini s枚m眉remez mi? S枚m眉r眉rse kom眉nizmden beter s枚m眉r眉r. Bu s枚m眉r眉 ad谋m ad谋m hikaye edilmi艧, ama romantik bir umut okuyucuyu diri tutuyor. Savundu臒u felsefeyi kar艧谋t谋yla anlatmak etkin bir y枚ntem. Ama fazla didaktik, g枚z眉m眉ze sokulmasa da anlard谋k 馃槀
I started listening to this book because I didn't have another one and was surprised at how much I got into it. A great book that while it takes place at some point in the past, there are a lot of things that you can see happening in society today.
Povestea continu膬 destul de tumultos, totu葯i 葯tie autoarea s膬 prind膬 cu discursuri strigate parc膬 de la o tribun膬 invizibil膬 dar impun膬toare. Am 卯nceput s膬 privesc cu al葲i ochi tot felul de acte de binefacere 葯i altruism social 卯n care ne place sa ne sc膬ld膬m periodic, pun芒nd drept baz膬 nevoile unor oameni s膬rmani, din Iubire pentru oameni, dintr-un spirit cre葯tin. 脦ntrebarea este ce fel de oameni sunt cei pe care pretindem c膬 卯i iubim 葯i c膬rora le dam c膬ma葯a de pe noi.