Atlas Shrugged

In order to fully understand Ayn Rand's works, such as Atlas Shrugged, you need to understand her philosophical point of view. Mrs. Rand created the philosphy of "Objectivism". She characterized Objectivism as "a philosophy for living on earth, grounded in reality, and aimed at defining man's nature and the nature of the world in which he lives."

Objectivism derives its name from the idea that both knowledge and values are objective; neither intrinsic nor subjective. According to Rand, concepts and values are not intrinsic to external reality, nor are they created by the thoughts one has.

Main Tenants of Objectivism:

· Reality exists independent of consciousness.

· Individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception.

· Human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic.

· The proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest.

· The only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in laissez-faire capitalism.

· The role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form-a work of art-that he can comprehend and to which he can respond emotionally.

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

-Ayn Rand

"Atlas Shrugged" opens in New York City, which is in complete disarray. The city is experiencing urban decay, and is in the midst of worsening economic conditions. While a Communist government is running the country, productive workers and business owners are abandoning their jobs and disappearing. As productive members of the business community disappear, political parasites and freeloaders continue to live off of the few industrious citizens who still work, and support them on their shoulders.

In the first part of the novel, there are still a few businesses that keep the weakened communist system from failing. Taggart Transcontinental is a publicly traded railroad that has Jim Taggart serving as President. Even though Jim is the company president, the business is actually run by his sister, Dagny Taggart, who is a staunch capitalist. After part of the railroad collapses, Dagny sets out to rebuild it using an alloy that is lighter and stronger than steel from Reardon Steel, which is owned by Hank Reardon. Hank, like Dagny, is also a staunch capitalist. The newly rebuilt rail line is going to connect the rest of the country to Wyatt Oil of Colorado, which is the only flourishing industrial portion of America. Dagny, Hank, and Wyatt team up to preserve productivity in the nation's economy, so their businesses will survive. The government, however, views the team as selfish and greedy.

In spite of government resistance, the new line is completed and has a successful first run. Dagny defiantly names it the John Galt line, after the first big industrialist to disappear. The new line quickly becomes a huge success. Dagny and Hank fall in love, even though Hank is married. While vacationing together, Dagny and Hank discover a revolutionary motor that runs on static electricity. The motor is found in an abandoned factory, so they try to find the inventor. Unable to find the inventor of the motor, they hire an up and coming physicist named Daniels to finish the motor.

In an effort to make it so other businesses can compete with the team, the government passes a new communist law of equal opportunity. The new legislation forces successful businesses to reduce their production, and cripples industry in Colorado. This new legislation devastates Dagny, Hank, and Wyatt financially. Wyatt, like many other industrialists, disappears. Before disappearing, Wyatt burns down his refinery to protest the government's actions.

As "Atlas Shrugged" continues, the economy worsens, Dagny is forced to cut more trains, and more industrialists disappear. Dagny believes that the industrialists are not leaving of their own free will, but that a "destroyer" is at work. Francisco d'Aconia, who is both a childhood friend and former lover of Dagny's, pays a visit. Dagny believes that Francisco is intentionally running the family business of d'Aconia Copper into the ground. Francisco and Hank become friends and Francisco asks Hank why he even bothers to stay in business under such oppressive government regulation. Francisco tries to convince Hank that his work is wasted, because it can only be used by the parasites for their own exploitation.

Hank is put on trial for breaking one of the new communist laws, but he refuses to participate in the proceedings. (The law he broke was selling too much of his steel, which the government viewed as anti-competitive.) The courts decide to let him go, rather than appear heavy-handed. Following the trial, Hank's wife finds out about his affair with Dagny and sets out to destroy him. Hank is blackmailed into giving all the rights to Rearden Metal to the State Science Institute, to be used for "Project X", which is a new massively powerful bomb. There is yet another set of laws passed that are even more oppressive, and include a ruling that all patents must be signed over to the government. Dagny see the new laws as irrational and repressive, so she quits her job and retreats to a mountain lodge. While Dagny is away from her job, the Taggart Tunnel caves in on one of the trains. The accident is caused by the incompetence of the government supplied workers. Dagny returns to her work, but Francisco tries to convince her to abandon the railroad as a lost cause.

When Dagny returns to her post at Taggart, she continues to try to salvage the railroad, cutting off some lines to make up for the others. On one of her trips across the country, she meets a hobo sneaking on one of her trains. The hobo tells her he used to work with a man named John Galt, a worker who abandoned the factory he owned. Just before disappearing, John Galt declared that he would stop the motor of the world, before he would participate in an unjust communist system. Dagny receives a letter from Daniels and believes he will be the next target of the destroyer. So she heads out to reach Daniels and prevent him from quitting his work on the motor, but she arrives only to see him taking off in a plane with the "destroyer", who is a strange man trying to persuade hard working members of society to abandon their jobs. In an attempt to stop Daniels from disappearing, Dagny follows them in a plane, but ends up crashing the plane into the mountains.

When Dagny regains consciousness from the plane crash, she is in a remote valley. The valley is the center of John Galt's new world, and the home of all the retired industrialists who have disappeared. John takes Dagny on a tour and explains that the industrialists are all on strike, calling it a "strike of the mind". The striking industrialists have gathered in the valley to start their own capitalist society. The motto of the valley is "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 falls in love with John, who turns out to be both the destroyer, and the man who built her electric motor. Even though she is in love with John, she leaves the valley and returns to her work.

Dagny returns to work, only to find that the government has nationalized the railroad industry. The government wants her to make a speach to the public supporting the new laws. Dagny refuses until Hank's wife blackmails her into doing it. While on the air, Dagny admits her affair with Hank, and exposes the government blackmail scheme. She denounces the oppressive regime, and warns the country of the dangers of communism. The government is angry, and schedules a second radio broadcast without Dagny. However, John Galt takes over the airwaves and delivers a lengthy address about the strike he has organized, and encourages other productive members of society to join them.

The economy is now on the verge of collapse. Francisco destroys the rest of d'Aconia Copper and disappears. Crops are rotting while they wait for freight trains which have been diverted by politicians for their personal use. The government attempts to stage a riot at Reardon Steel, but the steel workers fight back. Francisco finally convinces Hank to join the strike. The country has fallen into a state of complete chaos.

In desperation, the government captures Galt (after Dagny inadvertently leads them to him) and tortures him in an attempt to make him their "economic dictator" so he can restore the failing economy. But Galt refuses to help them, even after he is tortured. Finally, Dagny, Francisco, Hank, and the other strikers rescue him in an armed confrontation with guards. They all return to the valley, and Dagny finally agrees to join the strike. Just as they return to the valley, the world crumbles. The motor of the world stops, and the lights of New York City go out. Soon, the country's collapse is complete and the strikers prepare to return. "Atlas Shrugged" ends with the capitalist group looking at the civilization they will rebuild under the sign of the dollar.

"When I say "capitalism", I mean a full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism-with a separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church."

- Ayn Rand

Knowing a little about Ayn Rand's life prior to writing "Atlas Shrugged" will help shed some light on how she formed her objectivist philosophy and the story line for the novel. Ayn Rand was born in 1905, into a middle class family in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Her father was a chemist and a successful pharmacist. Rand taught herself how to read at age 6. By age 9, she had already decided she wanted to be a writer.

Rand was in high school at the time of the Russian revolution of 1917. Her family fled to Crimea to escape the fighting. The rise of the Bolshevik party, and eventual communist victory, led to the confiscation of her father's pharmacy, and poverty for her family. Rand finished high school in Crimea, and in her final year, learned about American history. She came to believe that America was the model of what a nation should be.

After high school, Rand returned to Saint Petersburg to attend the University of Petrograd, where she majored in history, but also studied philosophy, and law. She graduated in 1924, and had witnessed the disintegration of free study, and the take over of the university by the communist party. She then entered the State Institute for Cinema Arts to study screenwriting.

In late 1925, she was granted a visa to visit American relatives. Although she told Soviet authorities that her visit would be short, she had vowed never to go back to Russia. She arrived in New York city in February of 1926. After a 6 month stay with relatives in Chicago, she received an extension to her visa, and left for Hollywood to pursue a career as a screenwriter.

On Rand's second day in Hollywood, Cecil B. DeMille saw her standing at the gates of his studio, offered her a ride to the set of his movie "The King of Kings", and gave her a job. Her first job was as an extra in the film, but she soon became a script reader. During the next week at the studio, she met actor Frank O'Connor, whom she married in 1929. In 1931, Rand became an American citizen.

Her first novel, "We the Living", was completed in 1934, but was rejected by numerous publishers. It was eventually published in 1936. Considered to be the most autobiographical of her novels, "We the Living" was based on her years under Soviet tyranny.

In 1935, she began writing "The Fountainhead". Not unlike her first novel, The Fountainhead was rejected by twelve publishers, but finally published in 1943. It made history by becoming a best seller solely through word of mouth, just two years later. It also earned Rand lasting recognition as a staunch proponent of individualism.

Rand returned to Hollywood in late 1943 to write the screenplay for "The Fountainhead", but wartime restrictions delayed production until 1948. In 1946, she began writing her major novel "Atlas shrugged". In 1951 she moved back to New York City to work full time on "Atlas Shrugged", which was eventually published in 1957.

Just click the link below to see the Ayn Rand/Atlas Shrugged video clip. As always, Steven Colbert is hilarious!

Steven Colbert Video Clip