More Atlas Shrugged

I recognize my last post was pretty haphazard.  So many things going on in that book that I was just trying to get a general overview of where I am with it.  A few days after I last posted my niece asked what the book was about, and I gave her the following answer, "Probably a very simplistic description of Atlas Shrugged is to call it Animal Farm on steroids and approached from an entirely different perspective.  Socialism vs capitalism.  Sadly, the author seems to believe that where one exists there is no room for any aspect of the other."

I'll stick with that description for the overall theme of the book.  But there are so many sub-themes and fascinating aspects that I try not to get too bogged down with frustration in the overall either/or premise on which Rand operates.

In my last post I briefly alluded to one aspect I found very fascinating--because it elicited from me a comparison with Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat.  Before delving into the specific topic I must confess I have not spent much time in reviewing TWIF to find specific quotes to back up my point here, so you'll have to forgive me for that.  However, one of the fundamental ideas I took away from my reading of TWIF was that Friedman believes we should stop all the hand-wringing about offshoring.  Instead of talking about the evils of offshoring we should embrace the opportunities it creates.  The basic way of doing so would be to invest more in education and encourage those whose jobs are at risk from offshoring to enhance their skill set so they will be better equipped to work in the new, flat world.  In short, the types of jobs that are being offshored are frequently the kind we would want offshored to allow people at home to turn their minds to something higher and more challenging.  Obviously, this is very difficult to manage in the short run for those who have just been laid off, but in the long run if we embrace the change, both individuals and our country will be far better off!

The comparison with Atlas Shrugged comes when Dagny and Hank discover the "super motor" that would have changed the world.  Dagny says to Hank, "Do you know what that motor would have meant, if built?"

Hank's response, in part, "Consider how many things it would have made easier and cheaper to produce, how many hours of human labor it would have released for other work, and how much more anyone's work would have brought him."

My mind fixated on how many hours of human labor it would have released for other work. Expected, coming from Hank, but there is no hand-wringing over potentially lost jobs due to this new development--only immediate thought for what else could be done given such improvements.  People would be freed to move on to bigger and better.  Let's challenge ourselves and be grateful for external events that force us to do so rather than whinging about changes to the world that was.  I enjoy the quote by Eric Hoffer:

"In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future.  The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists."

We must be prepared for, and be willing to embrace, change.  Changing what is happening around us can often be difficult, but changing our response to it is well within our grasp and should be something we practice.

That's it for today's thoughts on Atlas Shrugged.  I'm about 2/3 through now, and still enjoying it but recognizing more and more that Rand has put together a framework that could only exist based on the premises she has created.  In my mind she does not take into account the realities of existence and clearly no recognition of a higher power.  I found particularly distasteful her refutation of Paul's counsel to the Corinthians about the importance of faith, hope and charity--to be replaced by facts, proof and profit (Mulligan's speech while Dagny is visiting "Atlantis").  Obviously these things are important and should be pursued.  But, and this is my predominant issue with Rand's philosophy, they are not the only things that matter.  There is so much more to life, and concern for our fellow man must be one of those things.  

Will that result in us being taken advantage of?  Yes, at some point and in some way, absolutely.  Is that a price I'm willing to pay given our current societal construct?  You bet it is.  When facts, proof and profit become the sole aim of humanity you can count me out.  Middle ground does, and must, exist.  And this seems to be where we're locked in the constant struggle as a nation.  How do we determine the best middle ground for everyone.  No one's figured it out perfectly yet, and I'm convinced Rand's approach is not the panacea she would have us believe.

I hope to post more soon.  This book is so thoroughly enjoyable!