Atlas Shrugged

These notes are old and were written while reading — they don’t necessarily reflect my current views.

One woman: daughter of a railroad tycoon found her calling in running a railroad company. Against the wishes of her brother she procures a new type of metal that no one else wants to use. All the experts say its no good, but she has an engineering degree and makes the judgement on her own. There are problems in the railroad industry and all the companies are struggling. The board has the attitude of: everyone is struggling, no one will blame us, so there is nothing we can do.

The company where she buys her metal from is run by a guy similarly focused on what he does. He built an empire and now innovated with this new kind of metal but no one wants it. He does not much care what people think and if they like him. People keep telling him how off-putting they find his behaviour, and especially his wealth. “Private property is only tolerated as it is used to further the social good”. He very much disagrees.

The rail line in Mexico to further the development.

Railroad “union” for the common good.

“Competition is essential, so we need to force people to compete in order to be free.”

Only 10.000 copies of any given book may be sold as to get people to buy better books. Every person should just be able to own one business.

Oppenheimer, bureaucracy justifying and expanding itself

There are many occasions where people are unwilling to openly talk about things they see as moral.

The “hobo” is talking about life in the factory after the “each according to his ability, to each according to his need” program was introduced. Instead of struggling with the coworkers to do the best job, they struggled to do the worst job. Everyone tried to sabotage the others relationships in order not to increase their need. They started spying on each other in order to find out who spend money not in accordance with his stated needs. As soon as it was established that property could be taken from other through the force of a democratic vote, it turned into dirty politics instead of competition.

→ The corrupting effect of politics as a way to make decisions (as a counter to the corrupting effect of the market)

Jim Daggert literally says: “In the long run we are all dead” That is hilarious.

So let’s talk about the heaven like place. It does seem like a annoying coincidence for her to land exactly in this spot, but its actually quite nice from a thematic point of view. She only gets there by performing a very daring manoeuvre that they were sure no person not deserving it would do.

One core theme is that every man (person) constructs the world around him in his image. That is not meant in a Derrida kind of way, not even in a Seneca kind of way. It is meant in a very practical way where objective reality exists but is malleable by personal choices. Everyone has his own fortune in his hands. The right thing to do is to pursue ones own fortune and to do it in accordance with reality. Being in a position where one can openly state ones objectives. Interacting with people in mutual consent. Doing stuff to create, to be a productive person, not a looter.

Love needs to be earned, as otherwise it denies reality.

Am I afraid of liking this?