About the Author
Atlas Shrugged is one the most well-known work by author Ayn Rand, a Russian immigrant who was a prolific writer and the quintessential queen of the Libertarian movement. She studied history and philosophy along with social pedagogy. She was born in 1905, became an American citizen in 1931, and died in 1982.
A “Brief” Synopsis (spoilers)
Atlas Shrugged is 850-1100 pages long (depending on the format), so to do it justice in one post is a challenge, but here it goes.
We follow the life and loves of Dagny Taggart, heiress and president of the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad, her brother James, and her lovers Henry Rearden, Francisco d’Anconia, and John Galt, and many others as they struggle for dominance in the corrupt sphere of big industry and government. James Taggart has no problem wielding the power of his government cronies to crush competition through regulation, all the while claiming to be trying to share the pie of the railroad market “fairly” amongst all companies and route out “destructive competition”. Dagny Taggart prefers to use honest methods to outperform the competition, such as using Henry Rearden’s cheaper, stronger metal alloy instead of steel or iron.
Henry Rearden is trapped in a loveless marriage, where he is constantly berated by his ungrateful wife and mother, whom he supports with long hours at the factory along with his useless, freeloading brother Philip.
Francisco d’Anconia is the heir of a copper mine, and Dagny’s first lover. By all appearances, he is a complete playboy and utter scoundrel, and he realizes that people see him this way, but he has a secret that will vindicate him, at least before himself and Dagny, that is kept from us for about a 3rd of the book.
John Galt is, according to Ayn Rand’s comments on the book, her idea of the perfect man. He is purely rational, scientifically brilliant, and a consummate Libertarian. He is attractive, popular, and influential. Any Rand flatters the reader by saying that if you are reading her book, you are just like him. Not quite, but thanks for that, Ayn.
At the beginning of the book, we find Dagny declaring that Taggart Transcontinental is will be opening a new line across the country, and that it will be made from Rearden metal. James, being the cautious stick-in-the-mud that he is, is opposed to the idea, but it goes forward anyway and is a complete success.
While going about her normal duties, Dagny finds that many titans of industry, musical virtuosos, great actors, and other accomplished “men of ability” are going missing. They seem to be dropping off the edge of the world. As she searches for more talent to with which to expand her empire, she keeps turning up empty. She comes to realize that a shadowy figure she nicknames The Destroyer is hunting these men and women down and disposing of them in some way. She eventually finds one man of ability before The Destroyer can get to him, but she arrives at his location just after he has flown away in a plane with The Destroyer. She gets in a plane and follows them, but her plane encounters problems and she goes down somewhere in the mountains of Colorado.
Dagny awakes to find herself in a Libertarian paradise in the arms of John Galt. She has crashed into a hidden valley called Atlantis, to where are the men of ability have absconded. These men and women were nearly driven mad in the rest of the country by out-of-control taxation, regulation, and a culture of oppression towards them, seeking to enslave them because of their abilities, demanding their services while shackling them. In Atlantis, there is only one law: no charity. All transactions involving goods, services, or finances are paid for in gold. Everyone who lives in Atlantis must take this oath: “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.”
Dagny stays in Atlantis for several weeks, working for John Galt as his maid. She learns that Jon Galt has given up on the rest of the country and prefers the rugged life off the grid to a cushy life where he is taxed and berated for being rich. Dagny falls in love with both John Galt and the pure free market society, but she is not ready to give up on the rest of the world. She decides to return and is blindfolded and flown back out.
Dagny returns to her post as VP of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, but the crushing weight of government regulations is clearly too much. John Galt takes over the most popular TV channel during prime time and reads a 3-hour speech on the moral supremacy of the free market, and soon the government starts searching for him to “fix the economy”. Dagny manages to find John Galt on his way to abscond with another man of ability, but she is followed and John Galt, who is arrested. The powers that be try to extract an economic plan from him with offers of power and position, torture, threats, and more, but he is unwilling to be a slave to them. The only plan he ever gives them is “Get the hell out of my way”–the Libertarian philosophy in a nutshell.
The books ends somewhat abruptly (at least, for a book that takes over 60 continuous hour to read) with John Galt, Dagny Taggart, and the other people of ability leaving the country to inhabit Atlantis.
Philosophy
Ayn Rand was a brilliant thinker, highly skilled fiction writer, and unfortunately, an atheist. The famous John Galt Speech divides all of humanity into 3 categories: Mystics of Muscle, Mystics of Spirit, and people who are neither. The natural order of things is what one might call Social Darwinism: the strong survive, while the weak suffer. Both the Mystics of Muscle and Spirit seek to alter this, but by different means.</p
Mystics of Muscle
These are socialists and totalitarians; those who seek to alter the natural order of things by force. If one person has more than another, take from the “have” at the point of a gun and give to the “have-not”. This is moral, say the Mystics of Muscle, even though it is clearly unjust when framed in those terms, not to mention completely unsustainable.
Mystics of Spirit
This is the group Ayn Rand lumped all non-atheists into, but she took a particularly dim view of Christians. According to Rand, Mystics of Spirit try to change the natural order by claiming that there is a God and that the only way to please Him is to give everything you have away to the poor and the church, and that happiness must not be attained in this life, only in the next. It’s a shame no Christian ever took 10 minutes to explain to her why this isn’t true.
What I Liked
Ayn Rand’s skills purely as a novelist alone are wholly underrated. Her defenses of capitalism, free markets, and yes, rich people, are truly inspiring and thought provoking. As Ben Shapiro pointed out “Ayn Rand taught way more people about economics than Thomas Sowell ever did”, because her books are entertaining and informative. Plus, with the slow but sure march of government overreach continues ever onward, Atlas Shrugged is probably even more relevant now than when it was written.
What I Didn’t Like
This is a book by a bitter atheist. There are pot-shots taken at a strawman version of Christianity throughout the book. She also praises extra-marital affairs by saying that it’s a shame that a man should sleep with one woman when he’s in love with another. Sorry, Ayn, it’s a shame that a man will fall in love with one woman when he is married to another.
Conclusion
I cannot read to this book too often, as Ayn Rand makes an admittedly compelling case for secular humanism. I’d rather read a book that venerates Christianity and takes a neutral view of politics.
So should you read Atlas Shrugged? If you are a strong believer and well-grounded in the Word of God with some basic knowledge of apologetics, I’d go for it. But remember that the Bible is the ultimate authority, and that Ayn Rand’s books, while entertaining and informative, should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Crazy Christian 