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“Evil” minds pt. 2

Atlas Shrugged – Day 068 – pp. 741-750

Now Rand twists — or rather UNtwists — a commonly held belief.

“We’ve heard so much about strikes. . .and about the dependence of the uncommon upon the common. We’ve heard it shouted that the industrialist is a parasite, that his workers support him, create his wealth, make his luxury possible — and what would happen to him if they walked out? Very well. I propose to show the world who depends on whom, who supports whom, who is the source of wealth, who make whose livelihood possible and what happens to whom when who walks out.”

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Man’s “evil” mind

Atlas Shrugged – Day 067 – pp. 731-740 (Your bonus section for the day…)

Dagny’s hot for this. It’s the one thing that has consumed her even more than the railroad.

Over the door, there was a sign.

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.

Ominous moment of silent awe and respect.

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The tour continues…

Atlas Shrugged – Day 066 – pp. 721-730

I just had a thought. All these men of industry are creating a veritable capitalist paradise in Mulligan’s mysterious valley. Cashing in on the power of their minds. Exchanging value for value.

But. . .

How do they plan to re-enter society? I mean, I’m guessing here, they eventually plan on returning to the world once it’s crushed itself. Rebuilding out of the ashes. Francisco has pretty much said that outright.

The G will fall and the currency will be debased to nothing. . . but how do you erase an ingrained sense of entitlement? How do you wash that out of the public’s psyche?

Sure there will be those who are still of an industrious bent, like our little tramp friend on the train. But like the woman on the train (who I forgot to mention — who felt entitled to transportation — who called Taggart Trans a “common carrier”), how do you purge that out of society? Won’t she still be hanging around somewhere?

I really can’t see them coming back in the face of that. Just wondering. I’m sure we’ll find out. . .

Anyway, on with the show.

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A tour of the grounds

Atlas Shrugged – Day 065 – pp. 711-720

Galt tells Dagny he’s been watching her (from the cafeteria via Eddie) and quotes her thing about the destroyer draining the brains of the world. She asks how long he’s been watching her. . .

“For years.”

The manner in which Rand describes his reply kind of gives me the feeling that maybe John Galt has a thing for Dagny too. I guess I’m not surprised. Hank, Francisco, Eddie and now JG. Will there be a battle for Dagny’s heart at the end? Doesn’t seem like it would fit in this book.

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Obeying expectations… pt. 2

Atlas Shrugged – Day 062 – pp. 679-688 (doubling up to get back on track. . . so to speak)

As they’re walking, Dagny has a bit of a crisis about Nat Taggart. Apparently his memory is sullied in history as having made his fortune by exploiting others. By keeping them down.

Owen tells her he was actually a liberator. People these days just don’t understand.

True, you can’t build an empire on a foundation of morons.

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Obeying the expectation of obedience

Atlas Shrugged – Day 061 – pp. 669-678

Anyway, the tramp is going on about the utter social decay the Starnes kids’ experiment of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” created.

It’s a long section, as much of Rand’s stuff tends to get, but it’s an excellent depiction of exactly how the “welfare-mind” destroys productivity.

Anyhow, business continues to decline. As people are no longer paid according to value, the quality of the value they produced – motors – declined precipitously. Selling defective motors ain’t a good business plan.

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The United States of Twentieth Century Motors

Atlas Shrugged – Day 060 – pp. 659-668

So Dagny and the Tramp continue their conversation.

He tells her about his experience most recently at the Hammond Car Company. He waited nearly a year for the job. He got on just as Larry Hammond quit and disappeared. Then the G took over and he was one of the first to get the boot.

Then he tell of a place where he worked for 20 years. Until the owner died and the heirs took over. Could it be? Another visit from the “small world department?”

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Another broken heart

Atlas Shrugged – Day 059 – pp. 649-658

Hey! Hey! You! What’re you doin’ over there. Get back to work. . .

Oh, man. It’s been like week since I’ve written anything here. Been busy with the business though. Hank and Dagny would both be proud. But now that things are caught up on the work side, time to get caught up a little here too.

Going to try to double up for a few days. Not only to catch up, but because this book is getting really damn good! Now, where was I?

Ah yes, Quentin Daniels, the motor physicist, has turned in his resignation on the motor project. Dagny is pushing her trip to Colorado up a day and leaving now.

Hank has snuck out – and Eddie’s come over to take some final notes for while she’s gone.

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Bears Beat the ‘Boys (from the fond memories file)

Jeez, it’s been so long they’ve gone from 4-1 to 4-3 dropping their last 2.   I guess I should post this before they slide any further.

Buffalo this weekend should be a win.  But I ain’t counting any chickens.  As of today, the Bears “O” is 0 (that’s zero) for 10 from the 1 yard line!

On the other hand, maybe posting it here now will bring back memories of a day when the Bears actually looked like something. (Maybe it’ll spark a turnaround!)

Anyway, Jerry-world was pretty amazing…

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Almost to heaven and back to earth

Atlas Shrugged – Day 057 – pp. 629-638

She’s kicking ass and taking names. They’re going to start traffic back and do whatever they have to to get the new lines built. Get men from wherever. Pay ’em double. Pay ’em triple. If any of those UB bitches get in your face, give the locals authority to bribe them. Keep it off the books of course. If they want to stop us, they’ll have to sue me…

Is that true?

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The more you give – the more you get

Atlas Shrugged – Day 056 – pp. 619-628

Dagny’s in awe. And in horror. Horrified awe? Awesome horror?

In any case, I don’t think she still fully gets it. The part about “inaction” actually being action (in this instance.)

She sees things as they are because they (her, Francisco, Hank et al) didn’t work hard enough. Francisco is trying to tell her it’s because they worked too hard. (And didn’t charge enough.)

I think this is where a lot of objection to Rand’s philosophy comes in.   That her idea of “chasing money” is her moral end in itself. It’s not. . .

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Pirate bookkeepers and out-of-town legislators

Atlas Shrugged – Day 052 – pp. 579-588

I’m going to try something a little different starting this evening. Rather than narrate the story like I’ve been doing, I’m going to try to recap a little less and think out loud a little more. A little more color, and a little less play-by-play. I’ll still include quotations from the book that I find particularly arresting, but not too much retyping. (I was starting to feel like I was just rewriting the damn thing!) So let’s see how it goes shall we?

Where were we? Oh yeah. Hank was confronting the Dread pirate Danneskjold (. . .Nah, “Dread Pirate Roberts” from the Princess Bride’s better too. Who names a pirate Ragnar?)

Anyway, Hank and Ragnar. Ragnar is explaining his accounting system to Hank. That he has a rather large account in his name. He has no way of knowing all of what’s been looted from Hank, with the exception of one account where meticulous records are kept.

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Beating yourself with the blackjack

Atlas Shrugged – Day 057 – pp. 559-568

To climb into Hank’s head for the moment, I’d guess that he thinks they have some evidence about his black market dealings or over-pouring Rearden Metal or something like that.

Dr F pulls a stack of copies out of his brief case. Hotel registries with the name of Mr. and Mrs. J. Smith. (I guess you didn’t need to be so creative back in those days.)

“You know, of course,” said Dr. Ferris softly, “but you might wish to see whether we know it, that Mrs, J. Smith is Miss Dagny Taggart.”

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