Is Atlas Shrugged Worth Reading? 

Fun fact: I read this about 12 years ago, and enjoyed and agreed with most of her ideas. That fall I took a Philosophy course, and got my worst grade ever on a paper because I chose to write about Ayn Rand and the professor vehemently disagreed with her philosophies. He's probably long forgotten about me, but I'll never forget him and how his own biased opinion dictated how he graded things. I didn't make the same mistake on future assignments and ended up doing okay in the course...

Beautiful, nouance. Thanks for the honesty

I absolutely love your objective, and balanced approach to both extremes of the political systems in question. I had to dig a lot to find your channel (searching for atlas shrugged reviews), but you have a new sub for sure. Listening to you actually gives me some comfort, we're not all crazy (those being balanced and not extreme).

Hi Anne, I like how you breakdown your reviews. Also, awesome vintage vibes with your hair and cute sweater 🙌

I skipped the middle of this video and I will keep this on my tbr pile and may make this a mammoth read one year. Thanks for the thoughts!

We're proud of you for finishing this one 😂

I think part of what Ayn Rand was saying was, you must trust your own mind and perceptions. Our rational mind is our only guide towards reality. It is wrong to let other people coerce you into what to think or what to believe. That Objective Reality exists. This is why she hated the philosophy of Immanuel Kant so much; Kant said that what you see was _phenomena_ and wasn't real, but was a shadow of _noumena,_ or true reality that we cannot have direct knowledge of.

Oh good! I am glad you did end up doing a review of this one. Though I do not agree with her ideas at all (and agree, extremes on both sides end in places no one should want to be in), I rarely hear people actually reading her. It is strange, because I typically agree with those who criticize her, but those same people will say they never read her. Haha. But, it is good to read the side you disagree with, it will strengthen your own beliefs. 😊

A good summary and review, addressing the most important issues of the book and explaining in a meaningful way the extreme position and views that Ayn Rand presents in this book. It's not surprising that such an extreme approach and idealization of capitalism appeals to modern "business bros".

About to hit Play. Thank you. And/or, I'm sorry. :)

Just one comment Anne, Stalin's USSR was never a socialist state, it went straight to communism - with tragic results. The closest we've seen to socialism are Scandinavian states that later adopted Social Democracy or Democratic Socialism.

11:00 "Ayn Rand doesn't seem to understand humanity. And I think that is the lacking part of Atlas Shrugged, is she creates these characters that are very much her philosophy as opposed to real people." Yes! I can't tell you how many times I wanted to scream, "Real people don't talk this way. Real people don't act this way." I mean, the speechifying! How long did the JG speech last? An entire chapter? It just went on and on and on. It felt like it would never end. WE GET IT, ALREADY! I'm not sure if I said this in a different comment, but she did change my view of cities. I grew up in Chicago but was enamored of The Country. I blame it on too much Little House On the Prairie, both the books and TV show. Obviously, that's all romanticized. It was a brutal life. I wouldn't last a week. I didn't know that as a child. I thought it was all Pa fiddling by the fire and eating sugar snow. I hated the city. Rand made me see cities as the amazing things that they are. People with skills took raw earth and somehow built roads, electrical grids, plumbing systems, buildings, yes, railroads - everything! - so that people could live more comfortably. Set me in a field and again, I would die in a few days. I think of that to this day, especially when I ride the train and see our skyline. For that, I do thank her. Thanks for this. It brought back memories. I can't recall another book that I have hated and yet loved in about equal measure. I may torment myself by reading it again someday. Maybe. The thing is, the setup is pretty cool, as are some of the characters. Like you, I just wish they had been more better developed instead of being (mostly) cardboard cutouts to spout her speeches. This is one instance where I'd be open to some sort of remake/rewrite/reboot. I'm no expert in Rand either. But it seems she couldn't make up her mind whether she wanted to write a novel or a political treatise. She tried to do both here and it shows. If she'd gone with novel and been way less heavy handed, it could have been different. At least it seems to anger both sides - those that wanted a novel and those that wanted a political treatise. That's some skillz, for sure. :)

As someone who was damaged by being raised in a cult, getting my hands on Atlas Shrugged helped me find a foundation for deconstructing from their ideology. No, the writing isn't compelling, the middle ground is non-existent, all the characters are one dimensional and in singular purpose. However, I think the lack of complexity helped me find a more solid foundation to connect with reality in a way that removed intention from the equation and highlighted effects. It kind of served as a factory reset for my sense of self and direction. Rand never intended for the book to be published, writing it was more of a coping mechanism for herself to try and make sense of the world as she had experienced it. It was her husband who really took the lead in having it published. While the basics of objectivism are pretty useful for someone who had programming that skewed the perception of reality, for those who had their critical thinking skills nurtured in their upbringing, It may not be anything profound.