July 21, 2010 1:42 PM
Atlas Shrugged more timely than ever
Atlas Shrugged's Timeless Moral: Profit-Making Is Virtue, Not Vice
In the years leading up to 2008--09's financial meltdown, government control over mortgages, interest rates and America's banking system was at an all-time high.
And yet when crisis struck, free enterprise took the blame.
The cure, therefore, was to give government even wider powers. Washington can now bail out any company, fire CEOs, override contracts and print billions of dollars to "stimulate" the economy -- all in the name of the public interest. The result? Our deficits and debt continue to mount, and there's a real possibility of a future like Greece's.
This is the state of our world today. It's remarkably similar to the state of the world in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, a mystery story about a future America whose economy is disintegrating and whose government is accumulating power faster than anyone thought possible. This parallel is a big reason a record 500,000 people bought "Atlas Shrugged" last year.
Read more at Investors Business Daily
HT: Tripp
Posted in Books, Conservatism | Permalink
Comments
I started this book, then put it down. I need to pick it up again. The writing isn't the greatest, but I keep hearing the *ideas* in the book are what makes it special.
Posted by: Kristina | July 21, 2010 3:18 PM
It also has the message, as does Rand's philosophy, that to do things for others is a vice. For her selfishness was a virtue as evidenced by her life. It annoys me when people look at her support of capitalism and ignore so much of what she taught. Her philosophy is pure poison even if she does get some important things right concerning capitalism.
When I was a selfish atheist I of course loved this book.
Posted by: Jeffrey L Miller | July 21, 2010 4:57 PM
