Once, I was going to go on a first date with someone. We were texting before the date and started talking about literature. They asked what my favorite book was. I told them Atlas Shrugged and they blocked me lol.
On a related note...my high school English teacher had us read Anthem for a few reasons: 1. So we knew who Ayn Rand was. 2. To know what a “novel of ideas “ was. 3. To realize that an author was going to express an opinion on topics, but we didn’t have to agree with those opinions. Just because an author could get a novel published, it didn’t guarantee that their opinions were not total nonsense. And sometimes you can agree with some of their ideas, yet reject others. This was my good English teacher. Most of the others were terrible and didn’t care about us being educated. Anthem is a good novel if you read it was an allegory of the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. It’s not so good if you see it as an allegory of modern times. We had one student go on to read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I decided to start reading Vonnegut instead.
Economist George Reisman (who was influenced by Rand) says it like this [paraphrased]: The Capitalist/boss is the primary worker and everyone who works for him are helpers who are hired to play a part in fulfilling his vision. Therefore, the Capitalist/boss should take primary credit for the end result. So the focus shouldn't be on whether or not Steve Jobs "did it himself" but that he was the guiding intelligence of the whole operation/empire. I've not read Atlas Shrugged as of yet so I'm not sure if she says something similar but take from that idea what you may. Good review!
Hey Elliot! Just wanted to say keep up the good work! Also, do you have any advice on writing "philosophical-fiction" if you will? It's kind of an odd genre but it's definitely unique!
Thank you so much! The most important thing when writing philosophical-fiction is understanding the context your characters are in (and how that mirrors reality). People react to conditions of their world. It's as important to understand how the world works as it is to understand how the character thinks. This advice is useful for all fiction, but it's especially pertinent when writing philosophical fiction. Hope that helps!
I think the message of Atlas Shrugged is the importance of the individual merit and self-ownership versus the dangers of collectivism and the idea of 'to each according to their needs'. Selfishness, in terms of pursuing your own goals for personal reasons and not for the common good, versus greed, in terms of ganging up on achievers and taking their achievements from them because you want them. A 'what if' scenario where society has been turned into socialist vampires by greedy bureaucrats and politicians, and the brilliant minds and industry captains just decide to leave en-masse and form a hidden community of laissez-faire competitive capitalism.
How many people have earned their life savings working for a rich man? How many people have earned their life savings working for a poor man? Isn’t it a good thing to start a business, become rich, and be able to provide a job for dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people, so those people can provide for their families? That was a major point of the book which it seems like you may have overlooked. The another thing is that the government can only give to some people what it takes away from other people. “ The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you’ll run out of other peoples money”.
I'd recommend reading The Fountainhead. It covers a few ideas that Atlas Shrugged doesn't cover. In the book, there is a character who becomes the owner of a company by lying and cheating for example. It goes deeper into social/ethic problems than Atlas in that way, Atlas is mostly politics.
Philosophy isn’t just how people behave. Philosophy is a fundamental science to life as a human. We have to make choices, and philosophy allows us to apply reason to our choices in order to reach the best outcomes contextually, for our own sakes. Good analysis, but I would also consider reading “Objectivism The Philosophy of Ayn Rand” (OPAR) by Leonard Peikoff, for a better understanding of what philosophy is and how to apply it in all scenarios. Leonard organizes Ayn Rand’s best philosophical articles and lectures into a whole meal of digestible philosophy. Take care and thanks for the video!
If someone tells you "Don't read that because it's going to turn you into a bad person." it tells you that they see you as an idiot, or at least as less intelligent and less capable of thinking than they are (who obviously know better than to read that book, lest they themselves wish to turn bad). You would be better friends with someone who dismisses it and calls it garbage without even reading it than someone who insults you like that.
This selfishness can be identified as necessary evils, or the 7 deadly sins. Each being necessary for one's grown, however, also being capable of destroying one's life. I wonder if Rand would argue if that's a religious belief, or Universal? Probably Universal after she was cheated on...
Good video! I’m pretty studied in Objectivism now, and I there is one theme I think is essential and you didn’t cover. But it’s the aspect of Individual Rights. That rights are a right to ones action, not to the actions of others. The question isn’t “what about the poor?”, but rather, “by what right is someone entitled to my life and efforts?”. You can choose to value and support charity of your own volition, and if that makes you happy, more power too you. Being forced to support countless strangers amoral, by way if it not being a voluntary choice one is making. “Morality ends where a gun begins”. I wouldn’t say I was brainwashed, but the idea of “Value is anything one acts to gain or keep” and “Virtue is the means of gaining or keeping a value” really got me thinking in terms of Value/ Virtue and it helped sort out what I wanted and how to get it. As I gain new values and keep old ones, I get the joy of achievement which builds up my self esteem. Making a plan, following it, and achieving also gives one certainty in their efficaciousness.
Steve Job’s true talent was in knowing how to exploit the cheap labor forces in China. Unlike the railroads, he did not have to bring Chinese people here.
