Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

OK, there's just no way I can sufficiently treat one of the twentieth century's greatest (and longest!) novels in the usual space of a Reading Glutton review.  So I'll just give some highlights and personal thoughts.  But you wouldn't expect anything more of a shallow book consumer like me, would you?

I first read Atlas Shrugged in 1987, just after I graduated from high school.  (Thanks, Chelli, for turning me on to Rand!)  I still have that paperback, and have read it a couple of times since then, but not in years.  With the movie coming out (still haven't seen it) I thought I'd revisit it.  I have to admit, I did it the lazy way: I got the CDs from the library.  (In case you're wondering, it's 45 CDs, 50-something hours, I think.)

I had forgotten what a great read this is.  Yes, it's long--my edition, a trade paperback, is 1084 pages of teeny tiny print--but Rand does not write fluff.  Her descriptions are memorable, the dialogue is tight, and the story line moves briskly.  One criticism often made is that the speeches are too long.  She does have a few long expository passages, where the characters flesh out their ideas, but they're all naturally part of the story and do not detract.  The one exception is John Galt's major radio speech late in the book.  It goes on for 57 pages in my edition.  On CD it's 3 hours.  In the book, they refer to it as a 2 hour speech.  In any case it's long, and one certainly has to suspend disbelief to think the whole nation would listen to the entire speech, much less take it all to heart.  Maybe I'm too jaded by our media saturation; in the days of radio, I guess it's possible.  I could just see a modern audience tuning out within 5 minutes to see what's on ESPN.

As great a novelist as Rand was, she is more remembered for her ideas.  She unabashedly promoted the virtue of selfishness, especially from the perspective of business.  I am a Christian, and I know that we are to follow Christ's example of selflessness, but I do not believe Rand's conception of selfishness conflicts with the Christian life.  Business is all about serving the needs of others; a businessman who does not do so finds himself out of business.  Adam Smith captured this idea in his line: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

One of Rand's heroes, Hank Rearden, made a similar point at a speech when he was put on trial for violating the restrictions placed on industry by the government.

I work for nothing but my own profit--which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it.  I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage--and I am proud of every penny I own.  I made my money by my own effort, in free exchange and through the voluntary consent of every man I dealt with. . . . I refuse to apologize for my ability--I refuse to apologize for my success--I refuse to apologize for my money. . . . I could say to you that I have done more good for my fellow men than you can ever hope to accomplish--but I will not say it, because I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist.

The villains in Atlas Shrugged (not to mention the current administration) never seem to get the point that by making money, a good businessman does vastly greater good for society and his fellow man than he ever can by giving money away.

Speaking of the current administration, Wesley Mouch's description of the John Galt Plan (which had nothing to do with Galt's ideas, he simply attempted to conscript Galt's name into government service) sounds suspiciously like something Barack Obama would say.  As you read this, please picture BO and his Teleprompter:

The John Galt Plan will reconcile all conflicts.  It will protect the property of the rich and give a greater share to the poor.  It will cut down the burden of your taxes and provide you with more government benefits.  It will lower prices and raise wages.  It will give more freedom to the individual and strengthen the bonds of collective obligations.  It will combine the efficiency of free enterprise with the generosity of a planned economy.

This is the kind of doublespeak I have come to expect from Washington.  Sometimes it seems Washington is taking its cues from Atlas Shrugged.  Rand talks about the "aristocracy of pull," which rewards the well-connected at the cost of successful enterprises.  What other explanation is there behind the bank bailouts?  Washington rewarded failure by bailing out the failed banks, costing the economy and the country, and penalizing successful banks.  I am in awe of the idiocy of our federal government's economic policies, but they would not have surprised Rand at all.

In many ways, Rand was an offensive figure, and she was certainly no friend of the Christian faith.  But I long to have someone like her making sense of the world today.  If you have never read Atlas Shrugged, you owe it to yourself to take a look.