This is a woman who knew what she was talking about . . .

It' been a while since I've blogged, but you can thank two things for that -- my job, where I now have to work Saturdays through April 15 (it's really not so bad -- we get free lunch and breakfast and we can wear jeans, and since I like the people I work with, I can deal with it). The other thing to blame is the book Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I have been hearing about this book for a while, so I decided to see what it is all about. It is really a brilliant piece of literature -- Ayn Rand is another George Orwell as far as her political prophetic abilities go. But it is, count 'em, 1168 pages long. And since I borrowed it from the library (I had to have it transferred from another library in the system -- Fairport Library sucks, there is nothing in it), and I recently found out that I can't renew it, I am going to share some of the passages which struck me in the 459 pages I actually got through before I have to return it tomorrow. If you think this doesn't describe what is going on in Congress with this stimulus bill; if you can't see the parallels, and if you can't see what is going to happen to this country through the eyes of Ayn Rand, then you are a moron.



Putting down capitalism

"I'm not so sure it was great -- building that [railroad] line for all those prosperous industrialists in Colorado, when there are so many poor people in blighted areas who need transportation."

"But Mr. Taggart, it was you who fought to build that Line."

"Yes, because it was my duty -- to the company and the stockholders and our employees. But don't expect me to enjoy it. I'm not so sure it was great -- inventing this complex new Metal, when so many nations are in need of plain iron -- why, do you know that the People's State of China hasn't even got enough nails to put wooden roofs over people's heads?"

"But . . . but I don't see that that's your fault."

"Somebody should attend to it. Somebody with the vision to see beyond his own pocketbook. No sensitive person these days -- when there's so much suffering around us -- would devote ten years of his life to splashing about with a lot of trick metals. You think it's great? Well, it's not any kind of superior ability, but just a hide that you couldn't pierce if you poured a ton of his own steel over his head! There are many people of much greater ability in the world, but you don't read about them in the headlines and you don't run to gape at them at grade crossings -- because they can't invent non-collapsible bridges at a time when the suffering of mankind weighs on their spirit!" (You see, this is how we're supposed to think of entrepreneurs)



Here's the economic stimulus bill, aka the limits on capitalism

The Union of Locomotive Engineers was demanding that the maximum speed of all trains on the John Galt Line be reduced to sixty miles an hour. The Union of Railway Conductors and Brakemen was demanding that the length of all freight trains on the John Galt Line be reduced to sixty cars. (The John Galt Line was the most innovative and successful line in the country -- oh, and it was brand new)

The states of Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona were demanding that the number of trains run in Colorado [where all of the successful entrepreneurs were going] not exceed the number of trains run in each of these neighboring states.

A group headed by Orren Boyle was demanding the passage of a Preservation of Livelihood Law, which would limit the production of Rearden Metal to an amount equal to the output of any other steel mill of equal plant capacity. (Do you not see the irony? How does limiting production preserve livelihood?)

A group headed by Mr. Mowen was demanding the passage of a Fair Share Law to give every customer who wanted it an equal supply of Rearden Metal. (Or how about making sure they have a house they can't afford to pay for?)

A group headed by Bertram Scudder was demanding the passage of a Public Stability Law, forbidding Eastern business firms to move out of their states. (Did you know that if you move out of New Jersey, you have to pay a tax to do so -- and it ain't a small one, either)

Wesley Mouch, Top Co-ordinator of the Bureau of Economic Planning and Natural Resources, was issuing a great many statements, the content and purpose of which could not be defined (italics added), except that the words "emergency powers" and "unbalanced economy" kept appearing in the text every few lines.

In answer to this, the head of the railroad, who hated himself, hated the railroad and hated his life, responds to the question "What's going to happen if we reduce the speed and the length of the trains?" "Well, there's something to be said for the unions' viewpoint, too. With so many railroads closing and so many railroad men out of work, they feel that those extra speeds you've established on the Rio NorteLine are unfair -- they feel that there should be more trains, instead, so that the work would be divided around -- they feel that it's not fair for us to get the all the benefit of that new rail, they want a share of it too." To which his sister Dagny responds "Who wants a share of it? In payment for what?" (Good question, Dagny. It wasn't the unions who made the railroad successful, who saw the innovation to make it work better -- it was you, and they want to take it all away from you)



This is a poor woman speaking. My brothers and I lived on a different plane. OUr aim was not to produce gadgets, but to do good. We brought a great, new plan into the factory. It was eleven years ago. We were defeated by the greed, the selfishness and the base, animal nature of men. It was the eternal conflict between spirit and matter, between soul and body. They would not renounce their bodies, which was all we asked of them. . . . They deserted us, one after another . . . Our plan? We put into practice that noble historical precept: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Everybody in the factory, from charwomen to president, received the same salary -- the barest minimum necessary. Twice a year, we all gathered in a mass meeting, where every person presented his claim for what he believed to be his needs. We voted on every claim, and the will of the majority established every person's need and every person's ability. The income of the factory was distributed accordingly. Rewards were based on need, and penalties on ability. Those whose needs were voted to be the greatest, received the most. Those who had not produced as much as the vote said they could, were fined and had to pay the fines by working overtime without pay. That was our plan. It was based on the principle of selflessness. It required men to be motivated, not by personal gain, but by love for their brothers. (Italics added) (The factory, of course, had been closed long ago -- people can't open businesses for the sole purpose of making sure people have jobs and enough money to live on. This is a microcosm of socialism -- and if you don't see that, again, then you are a moron.



This is perhaps the most striking passage of all.

"But after all, I did break one of your laws" (He actually allowed someone to buy more metal than he was allowed by law to sell -- which was a ridiculous law in the first place, of course)

"Well, what do you think they're there for?" . . . Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris [a scientific bureaucrat]. We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against -- then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows [the entrepreneurs] were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. When there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed no enforced nor objectively interpreted -- and you create a nation of law breakers -- and then you cash in on guilt."



And about the innovative Rearden Metal, used to build the railroad:

"Did you want to see it used by whining rotters who never rouse themselves to any effort, who do not possess the ability of a filing clerk, but demand the income of a company president, who drift from failure to failure and expect you to pay their bills, who hold their wishing as an equivalent of your work and their need as a higher claim to reward than your effort, who demand that you serve them, who demand that it be the aim of your life to serve them, who demand that your strength be the voiceless, rightless, unpaid, unrewarded slave of their impotence, who proclaim that you are born to serfdom by reason of your genius, while they are born to rule by the grace of incompetence, that yours is only to give, but theirs only to tak, that yours is to produce, but theirs to consume, that you are not to be paid, neither in matter nor in spirit, neither by wealth nor by recognition nor by respect nor by gratitude -- so that they would ride on your rail and sneer at you and curse you, since they owe you nothing, not even the effort of taking off their hats which you paid for? Would this be what you wanted? Would you feel proud of it?"

"I'd blast that rail first," said Rearden, his lips white.



Well, that's enough for me to write, but it's not nearly enough for the world to learn its mistakes. I think we will have to live in the world Ayn Rand creates in this book before we wise up.



By the way, Ayn Rand lived in (and escaped) from the Soviet Union.