When Will Atlas Shrug?

Atlas Shrugged, the epic novel by Ayn Rand, navigates the battlefield between those who want others to do for them and those who do for themselves. The ending of the story is not as important to this discussion as are the principles that guide the protagonists throughout the story.






One attribute of the "altruistic" people of the novel is their constant demand that government do more and more and more without regard for feasibility or sensibility. Crying that the government must pass legislation to solve every problem, the masses disregard the costs, consequences and risks of quick-fix solutions in favor of immediate, short-term emotional satisfaction.

In the real world, Rand's fears about the ever-expanding government have been realized with the PATRIOT Act and, today, with an even more asburd bill that our out-to-lunch lawmakers have proposed in the wake of Katrina. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CO), and Barney Frank (D-MA), are sponsoring a bill that would require that state and local disaster preparedness plans required for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding include provisions for household pets and service animals. http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/22/katrina.pets.ap/index.html.

I am an animal lover as much as the next guy, but do we really need to burden the government -- that could barely handle the human side of the disaster -- with responsibility for the welfare of my pet cat? This is absolutely crazy. Just like any other piece of property, pet owners should come up with their own contingency plans for pet refuge in the event of an emergency. What comes next? FEMA has to make sure I have stocked my shelves with water?

Another point made in Atlas Shrugged is the affinity of the masses to clamor toward incompetent leadership. So long as those in government play the blame game, repeat hollow cliches and proclaim their caring for the people, the citizenry happily give up their independent thinking in favor of those who must know better than everyone else what is good for society. The end result is a government that gets so comfortable with its own omnipotence that it refuses to admit or correct its mistakes. As soon as your leaders ask you to "sacrifice", you know things are going downhill. That is, of course, because a sacrifice is giving up something you value, for something you do not value as highly, according to Rand.

Irrespective of my opinions of the President on every other issue, it always reminds me of Atlas Shrugged when I hear his speeches. Every speech is littered with references to sacrifices by the masses, by the troops, etc. Sacrifices by everyone but the President, his family and friends. Congress too. Condi still gets to go shopping for Prada shoes and the Bush twins will never enlist in the military. And, it's not just Bush. The message is trickling down and now Americans are buying into the notion of "sacrifice" so long as they aren't the ones who bear the burdens associated therewith.

New Orleans must be re-built, but no one wants to pay for it. The President won't raise taxes so it's going on the federal credit card that is already maxed. The already devalued dollar is the only savior for big promises and low taxes and there is no end in sight. As American citizens from all political leanings continue to make demands for more and more protection, keep in mind the words of the great Francisco D'Anconia,

"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion—when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that is does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.

"Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked, 'Account overdrawn.'

When will Atlas shrug?

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.
— John Galt, Atlas Shrugged