A fictional idiot whose ass I’d most like to kick
Who IS John Galt?
Ding! Correct.
Atlas Shrugged is finally being made into a movie. This is awesome, because it means the illiterate will be able to hate Ayn Rand as much as I do.
The book has a failed premise, an imaginary force, an impossible rebellion, and a bunch of unlikeable fools as players. The liklihood of us seeing Lord of the Rings or Dune become reality in our lifetimes is not only far greater, but more to be desired. This movie, like the book, will do more to damage real conservatism and commonsense than anything to come before or likely to come after. You want to see an accurate vision of the future? read Player Piano. Sure, it’s great to fantasise that a good man will come along and fix the world, but it will only ever be a fantasy. The closest we ever came was Reagan, and we won’t see another Reagan in our lives.
Give this a little thought: A group of motivated people who know what is right, taking the bull by the horns and fixing America despite the protestations of the evil and stupid.
Yes, you guessed it, it’s the Obama Administration. And John Galt is Nancy Pelosi.
23 comments Og | Uncategorized
Satire? Early on Sunday, no less? I would agree that Reagan was a great hope, but I doubt he is the last.
I’ve not read Ayn Rand as yet as I doubt any econmist can predict the future.
As Yoda says, the future is hard to see as it is always in motion. A descsion here, a death there and the whole thing can become crap, or the best we have ever seen. Not that I expect any prebuscent adolescent to be able to see clearly what life is.
Confusing message this morning, Og.
You’re so cute when you’re like this. :p
Here’s your decoder ring, Paul: Rand was an atheist.
She was also kinda personally mean-spirited.
OTOH, the premise of Atlas Shrugged is that the world belongs to the people who will put in the work to keep it moving — and what would happen if they got ticked at the leeches and walked out.
You don’t have to like Rand or even agree with her to enjoy seeing what happens. Or to be horrified by it, if that’s your style.
It could be an interesting movie. I liked Enemy At The Gates without bein’ any too fond of the Soviets.
Rand’s atheism has nothing to do with my dislike of her work; Atlas shrugged is a pure fantasy, and a horrible one. Nothing worse could happen to western civilization than for Rand’s vision to come to pass. Nothing worse. Come to think of it, two of my dearest friends are avowed athiests, and very vocal avowed atheists, and I don’t even think of that.
Actually, I think I’d kinda like Rand, personally. All the interviews I saw with her, she’s someone I’d like to meet at a blogmeet.
“OTOH, the premise of Atlas Shrugged is that the world belongs to the people who will put in the work to keep it moving — and what would happen if they got ticked at the leeches and walked out.”
Um, no. The premise of Atlas Shrugs is that there are those who know better than the unwashed masses what is best for us, and they’re going to give it to us, good and hard. That is what we have, right now.
Reagan wasn’t anyone’s “hope”. he was a very good man who did a good job of what he did, and no, we will not see another like him anytime soon.
Rand’s book was horrible and ponderous. I like a few things in there, but have no truck with those who thirst for her version of events.
But today’s kids could care less. You’d do better to rail against “Fight Club.”
“But today’s kids could care less. You’d do better to rail against “Fight Club.†”
Prezactly. As if a whiny egocentric moron cold do in a 59 page speech (A 59 page miserably boring speech) could undo the generations of entitlement that are at the root of the BS we have to confront.
So this movie is “only a turd in a galted cage”?
I tried reading “Atlas” more then once, and never got all the way through it. Might have to give it another go, just to see if there are any kernels of truth embedded there in.
The kernel there is that the entitlement class and the liberal elite want the people who produce saddled up for their riding pleasure. That is true enough.
Unfortunately, Rand had no concept of how manufacturing works, and of course anyone who does, discounts this whole book as a fantasy, and an idiotic one at that; and she needed nothing in the world so much as editing.
I get that this book has turned a lot of people away from liberalism, but so has the taxes taken out of a couple days hard work. The predominant problem I have with this, is that it promotes the fantasy that the sort of asinine bullshit could or might work. We will no more ‘Shrug’ our way out of this than we will vote our way out of it. What is going to be necesary to change our world requires things most people have no stomach for.
Waiting for a ‘hero’, like the fictional ‘John Galt’, is definitely not a plan.
Saint Benedict had it right: “Ora et Labora” (or simply “Labora” for the atheist, types)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_Saint_Benedict
…and even this may not be enough, considering the times.
But it was good medicine for the people at the fall of the Roman Empire.
(I’m still gonna watch the movie though… :p )
Well, I am a little more enlightened.
Still don’t think I will read the book.
If God has anything to do with it we will have a chance to save ourselves even at the gates of hell.
Keep your powder dry.
On a side note, I’m not fond of cleaning a gut shot deer, but I do it when needed.
As I have said many times, I used to be an Objectivist.
Then I grew up.
Ayn Rand, get thee behind me.
I’ve read Atlas Shrugged twice, enjoyed it both times.
Do I believe some John Galt is going to come along and save America from itself? Nope, not at all.
For me, what value the book has is found in the antagonists that serve as a warning. There’s Sowell’s Conflist of Visions (and if you haven’t read that book you need to) writ large. People who don’t understand economics making economic policy. People implementing policies to help the poor that make people poorer. People believing that you can take the fruits of production from productive people and they’ll continue to be just as productive. Some folks really believe that crap, and those folks have a nasty habit of getting into power.
And yeah, I know most people aren’t going to heed the warning. If my Christian faith has taught me anything, it’s that God doesn’t work with the whole world at once, He starts with a Remnant.
“For me, what value the book has is found in the antagonists that serve as a warning.”
Mark:
Anyone who has arrived at the point where they can read, and does not understand the “warning” you refer to prior to reading Atlas Shrugged, is probably too stupid and should not be allowed access to voting equipment,heavy equipment of any type, or farm animals.
All the fleas Rand brings out her sledgehammer to kill, intelligent people already understand are bad.
Some people are stupid, some merely ignorant, meaning they’d never been exposed to the realities of ecomonics and politics. The stupid people are beyond help, they’ll continue to vote for the Obamas of the world and hold their hands over their ears chanting “lalalala” while you try to talk sense to them. The ignorant maybe just never considered the long-term consequences of the policies that we know will end in disaster. If they can have a “Wow, I never thought of it that way” experience it’s all well and good, score one for the good guys.
Bear in mind that most people today don’t get a classical education. I didn’t, I got trained in my field and educated myself later. When I was in college it was more important to me to learn the skills I needed to get a job and less so to understand how economics worked. It’s a shame that the educational system turns out people who would support the ideas put forth by the “bad guys” in Atlas Shrugged, but the fewer people we can turn away from such policies the better off we’ll be. Most people should understand these things by the time they can understand all the words in the book, but the reality is that they don’t.
I’m really not trying to crap in your livingroom Og, so I’ll say no more on the subject. I’ve seen what you do to folks who act like an ass in your comments, and have no desire to be on the receiving end.
LOL! mark, don’t sweat it.
I understand what you’re saying, but trust me on this: If you were able to inject the concepts of Atlas Shrugged into every human in America, you’d hit maybe .0001% of people who would be able to figure it out.
You posit that there are people who are stupid, and people who are ignorant of the facts; I can tell you that anyone who is ignorant of the facts, and does not go out of his/her way to discover those facts on his own, is in fact, stupid. And you won’t sway them, no matter how fine a book you read.
Atlas Shrugged is a recipe for terror, disaster, and the worst kind of stupidity one can imagine. The fantasy that the “game plan” outlined by Rand could work is the very worst kind of delusion.
And I welcome civil discussion. What I don’t tolerate is people being assholes, and so far, you haven’t been.
Gotta put this quote here:
“Two novels can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other involves orcs.â€
lol. Nice! I love it.
“Atlas Shrugged is a recipe for terror, disaster, and the worst kind of stupidity one can imagine. The fantasy that the “game plan†outlined by Rand could work is the very worst kind of delusion.”
Oh, you won’t get the slightest argument from me on THAT. Even in the book the world fell into untold misery, and I don’t for a moment believe that the White Knights (Galt, Taggart, Rearden and company) will come from their mountain retreat to bring the world back from the brink. In reality the policies put forth in the book (and that lots of people seem determined to see made reality) will bring about a Dark Ages that will make the one at the end of the Roman Empire look like a minor downturn. If I can pick up on what sophisting said, I don’t believe there will be little folks with furry feet to go and destroy the ring either, so (what’s-his-name, Aragorn’s ancestor) needs to destroy it when he has the chance!
Maybe I’m just grasping at straws, hoping that enough people will wake up before it’s too late. As you said, I know we won’t shrug our way out of this. I hope you’re wrong that we won’t vote our way out of it (but I fear you’re right). I hope that if it comes down to it we CAN fight our way out of it. More than anything, I fear we’re just going to fall into it and will end up (maybe) pulling ourselves back up over the course of a few centuries, maybe a few millenia, or maybe never.
There’s a line in Poul Anderson’s short story called “Hunters of the Sky Cave” in the book “Agent of the Terran Empire” that goes (quoting from memory, may not be exact): “Anyone with any sense knows the Long Night is coming, but they also know it won’t come within their lifetime. So they turn up their collars, and curse the cold, and amuse themselves playing with some brightly-colored dead leaves.”
Thanks for the discussion Og, and for putting up with my optimism.
Anyone who thinks only a select few keep the whole country running due to their creative genius hasn’t gone and rebuilt a bathroom.
John Galt is a good fantasy character. Something to aspire to in regards to a personal work ethic. Its just important to not get high on all the fumes of self importance.
It all comes down to man-hours and getting things done as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Everybody is granted 24
hours in a day. No matter how rich, or smart or special they are – and rebuilding a bathroom takes many, many of those hours. That requires a multitude of willing and disciplined laborers. Not ‘geniuses’. Not Drama.
The book doesn’t seem to address that fact.
Mark: I’m plenty optomistic too. Just for different reasons, and none of them involve anything Rand has to say. I have the most incredible trust in the strength of my own hands and brain.
I agree, Mark. Things aren’t looking too good. But…
Country Boys can survive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg
Comparative to other places in the world, our land is big and empty. Has lots and lots of fertile soil. I too have hope for those who know how to work.
I tried several times to read the book and just couldn’t force my brain to keep going. Could. Not. Do It.
I managed to read L. Ron Hubbard’s entire 10 book “Mission Earth” series out of pigheaded spite, not believing that it could possibly get any worse. It almost makes me wish the bastard was resurrected by Xenu’s clone banks just so I could kill the fucker personally.
But I digress.
“Unfortunately, Rand had no concept of how manufacturing works, and of course anyone who does, discounts this whole book as a fantasy, and an idiotic one at that; and she needed nothing in the world so much as editing.”
Editing and to do some damn research.
But I couldn’t finish Atlas Shrugged.
Fuck John Galt and everyone who proclaims, “I am John Gault!!!”
No hell you ain’t. I remember when the Big Thing was the “I am Tiger Woods!!!” commercial. I played in a Company Tournament and on the first tee everyone in my group proclaimed, “I am Tiger Woods!!!” just before he teed off. I teed off last and proclaimed, “I am In The Fucking Woods!!!”
Guess who was right?