Posted on

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.

Continue reading “The tour continues…”

Posted on

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.

Continue reading “A tour of the grounds”

Posted on

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.

Continue reading “Obeying expectations… pt. 2”

Posted on

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.

Continue reading “Obeying the expectation of obedience”

Posted on

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?”

Continue reading “The United States of Twentieth Century Motors”

Posted on

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.

Continue reading “Another broken heart”

Posted on

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?

Continue reading “Almost to heaven and back to earth”

Posted on

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. . .

Continue reading “The more you give – the more you get”

Posted on

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.

Continue reading “Pirate bookkeepers and out-of-town legislators”

Posted on

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.”

Continue reading “Beating yourself with the blackjack”

Posted on

A Real life Directive 10-289

It’s always nice to see family.

My cousin had a lay-over in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday so she gave me a call and we went out for a bite to eat.

She’s a pilot for probably the only profitable airline in the country. We got on the subject of the merger between her employer and another carrier. (Actually her airline is buying the other one.)

She mentioned the McCaskill/Bond legislation. Continue reading “A Real life Directive 10-289”

Posted on

Plotting the death of the free world

Atlas Shrugged – Day 055 – pp. 539-548

If I may paraphrase Directive 10-289. . .

Point One – you are officially chained to your job — quitting is a criminal offense

Point Two – if you own a business, you have to keep it in operation no matter what

Point Three – all patents, copyrights, intellectual property and the like must be turned over to the state as a “patriotic emergency gift”

Point Four – nothing new shall be invented, produced or sold

Point Five – industry shall be required to produce the exact same amount of goods as they did during the “basic year”

Point Six – everyone shall spend the same amount of money they did on the goods they bought in the “basic year”

Point Seven – all wages, prices, salaries, dividends (and about any other payout you can think of) shall be frozen

Point Eight – anything not covered (or if you break the rules) ends up in front of the Unification Board . . .

Continue reading “Plotting the death of the free world”