With Thanks and a tip of the hat to RealityCheck4Eve, who gave me the link to the Movie Trailer and her insights on the story.
Atlas Shrugged was copyrighted in 1957. I read it for the first time in 2009. As I read the book, it felt as if Ayn Rand had recorded the present in the past. In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn shows how gov't meddling, it laws, its redistribution of wealth, and its taxes causes the collapse off America.
Ayn categorizes people, gov't, and businesses as moochers, looters, or producers. The moochers being companies and people who can't survive without infusions of cash from the gov't. The gov't, with its military might, is the ultimate looter. The producers are the workers, the highly educated, and the captains of industry who run profitable companies. Atlas, mythical Titan who holds up the world, represents the producers who make things work. The question came up what does Atlas do when he is being abused. The answer is, he shrugs. The producers decide to stop allowing the gov't to enslave them by taking the fruits of the labor for which they toiled and rightfully earned. The producers disappear and let the moochers and looters fend for themselves.
There are many powerful quotes to be found in this novel. I will give you one and let others share theirs.
"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
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I've heard a rumour Reality Check can turn into a bear if you make her mad, so please, do as she asks and add your comments,and your favorite quotes from the book.
For more information about the movie Atlas Shrugged visit
http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/get_involved
If you like it, email a link to your friends... this movie deserves to get some grassroots support.
Update
Alphamom did as Reality Check asked, she has this to add
grumpy...in spite of the fact that "atlas shrugged" was published in 1957, it is still a timely piece of literature. the elements [characters] exist in every milieu. they are basic...the author, while having lived & observed humanity over 50 years ago, proves that nothing that man can concoct is new. the settings, the people, the circumstances may be different, but the motives [greed, power, hatred, envy, etc] are not of one particular age, nor era, nor ethnic class nor group. once the scene is set in motion, the characters play it out to the bitter end.
I think that much of the story could be set in present times & not be out of place nor seem out-dated....well, w/ the exception of the lack of electronic devices, high-tech communication, & perhaps a more stringent code of sexual morality.
My last observation is that the "lunatic liberal left" would not find it to be something that they would reccommend for general consumption. one last comment: my copy of "atlas shrugged" is 1168 pages long...& i'm wondering how it was condensed enough to be presented as a 90 minute film! alphamom
From a WSJ article:
ReplyDeleteFor the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123146363567166677.html
Who Won
"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
ReplyDeleteAh so! The law of the jungle. Don't let our troops read this. Bring them home.
Great Comment We Won, thanks for taking the time to post it..
ReplyDeleteI agree Bud... seems to be the law of the jungle