Atlas Shrugged, anyone?

[daepp]

Don't know if this should be PARF or not...

Reading it for the third time right now. Once in my 20's, once as a 30 something. And now.

At first - couldn't relate all that well.

In my 30's - had worked at a CPA firm, got familiar with government regulation, then politics, then etc. Thought it could have been written in the 90's.

Now - OMG! It is now so relevant in makes you feel like she was a 20th Century Nostradamus(sp?).

IMHO of course!

[aap1966]

Reading it now for the first time.

Astonishingly prescient.

If it were published in 2009, it would be seen as a thinly veiled attack on the current paradigm.

I bet it's not in any government school libraries.

[the]

The most amazingly accurate predictive book ever.

Not only predicted, 50 years in advance, the political and economic direction the US (and the world) would take, but also the results of having taken that path.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'm about halfway through it right now - it's eerily prophetic.

I'm waiting for the Obama administration to announce the "Equalization of Opportunity Act". It'd fit right in.

[azasadny]

We're living the book right now...

[Porsche_monkey]

Just read The Fountainhead. Atlas Shrugged is next..

[greghershner]

I am ready to move off to a secret valley and build cars out of Reardon metal!

[daepp]

How about the Anti-Dog Eat Dog Act?

[Moses]

I'm reading it now for the first time. It's unsettling to say the least.

[Rearden]

I read it for the first time in 2003. Rand conveys her message with brutal effectiveness.

[greghershner]

Wow! what a great handle. Is that your name. too?

[BeyGon]

I read Fountainhead and then Atlas Shrugged while in the Marine Corps, then I read Anthem and some of her other books. I read Atlas Shrugged again a few years ago and think I should read it again. The last time I read it The Clintons were in power and it seemed I could fit all that bunch into the book.
Who is John Galt?

[930LDR]

Waiting to get my hands on my new Kindle and it will be one of the first books I order.

[Drago]

The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged are two of my favorites. I've read both several times.

[CJFusco]

Okay... I'm an avid reader, but I've never read anything by Ayn Rand, although I've been generally interested. When I first came across this thread, I went and did a little research between classes (I teach Literature). From the synopses I read, it seems that Rand's argument seems to be against any form of governmental restrictions on the market; I am not attempting to take a political stance here, nor am I attempting to insinuate that anybody here is wrong, but isn't the recent mortgage crisis seen by many to be the manifestation of a LACK of restrictions upon a market?

Like I said, I'm not leveling criticism here, but simply and honestly don't understand the parallel that ya'll are trying to make between our world and the world of "Atlas Shrugged." Please, clue me in; my reading list is backlogged right now, so it would be awhile before I could tackle another 1000+ page novel (I finished "Against the Day" a few months ago, and had to re-shelf "Mason & Dixon" for the time being due to writing and teaching obligations); I'm curious as to what the alleged parallels might be. Thanks!

[daepp]

One link would be the intervention BY the government in banking et al. forcing banks to lend where they didn't want to for fear of being labeled a red-liner. Then the Community Reinvestment Act. (I was the CFO for 18 years of a small So Cal bank - commercial loans only - but we were definitely pressured. And the FDIC would come in and clearly try and help us get around the rules to keep from making bad loans!

[David]

It's been 20 years since I read it. I thought it was a great book (along with Fountain Head), so I guess I'm not as liberal as I think I am.

An old roommate of mine, who's now an editor for a large publisher in NYC, though Rand was the biggest load of crap and couldn't stand when I mentioned it. So I guess you really like it or really hate it, but it definitely causes a reaction.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by CJFusco

...isn't the recent mortgage crisis seen by many to be the manifestation of a LACK of restrictions upon a market?

The EXACT opposite is true. In a free market, no bank would dare make sub-prime loans to folks who couldn't afford them. Congress used Fannie and Freddie as a tool to allow poor people home ownership. Congress forced the relaxation in lending standards to pursue "equality" in housing. Without this government interference, Fannie and Freddie would never have failed.

[legion]

In Atlas Shrugged, the government passes laws in an attempt to force total equality in the marketplace. As each new regulation is passed, it causes a host of unintended consequences that cause an economic meltdown. This happens slowly at first, then with an accelerating pace until the economy is completely in shambles.

Contrast that with the whole subprime mess. This was created by the government forcing banks to lend to people who were not credit worthy. When that started to cause problems, we got TARP, then the second "stimulus", and now another rescue is being debated.

In both cases, the government created the problems, then tried to solve them by forcing businesses to act against their own self-interest.

[greghershner]

To add to Legions' post, with each wave of intervention by government, more and more brilliant/productive people dropped out from society and moved out of reach of government.