It's been a few days now since I finished reading Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged', and I can honestly say that it was quite an experience. Having given it some time to percolate through my mind, I can say that I consider it a work that is very enlightening, if flawed. Although at one point I thought that I much prefer The Fountainhead [1] to Atlas Shrugged, I'm now no longer so sure.
I think that the main differences between The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are that although they seem to both encompass the same underlying life philosophy, Atlas Shrugged is more confident and bombastic. Whereas The Fountainhead was mostly about 'show, don't tell', Atlas Shrugged likes to tell you what it thinks. A lot.
This unfortunately led to me rolling my eyes at a lot of internal dialogue, especially at the beginning of the book when Mr Rearden considers his family and near the end of the book with Galt's small novel worth of... ranting, I guess. I'm somewhat sorry to say that this latter exposition appeared to me tedious and repetitive enough that I mostly skipped through it.
So it's a poorly written story, then? Far from it. As I mentioned earlier, it's an enlightening if flawed experience. When the book tones down the preaching and posturing some, it's actually a really good story with highly detailed and intriguing characters. I especially found myself really liking one of the main characters: Dagny Taggart. Her frustrations as she sees her life's work taken away from her and demolished in front of her eyes was palpable.
It should be noted here that over the years I had been informed by others that 'Atlas Shrugged' is a novel about a bunch of rich folk deciding that they don't want to pay their due to society any more and establish their own 'perfect' society somewhere else. This concept is also what for example the Bioshock video game series is based on. Colour my surprise when I found out that Atlas Shrugged is nothing like that premise.
As the story begins, Dagny Taggart is the head of Operations at US rail company Taggart Transcontinental, who together with childhood friend Eddie and others try to keep the business together even as it is clear that some kind of rot has set in. New rail from a steel foundry has not been delivered for months, resulting in an entire section of track reaching a state where it can no longer be safely used. The owner of the foundry claims a situation beyond his control.
This sets the tone of the next chapters: even as Dagny Taggart and Rearden with his new metal alloy called 'Rearden Metal' are dreaming of how they can transform the country with high-speed Diesel trains running on solid tracks made with this super-durable Rearden Metal, they're finding that contracts are not being fulfilled and then a new law gets passed that essentially forbids market competition. Instead each US state should see exactly the same rail services, same job prospects and so on.
These regulations gradually gets expanded, all in the name of equality. Suddenly no manufacturer of steel, coal, or anything else is allowed to produce more than their competitors. Any protests against these regulations are met with an explanation that it is all for the common good. That this isn't the time to think about one's personal situation, but about the failing companies, the starving and desperate people in society. Many of these measures just temporary anyway, until the economy recovers.
Throughout this time, Dagny is astounded to learn that many people she knew suddenly seem to vanish. Some suddenly announce that they are 'retiring', leaving behind a factory or other company with no word about a successor, while others just vanish overnight without leaving a trace. She is afraid that there is a 'Destroyer' behind this, someone or some force which will end up also getting to her. It aren't just industrialists who are vanishing now, but also a lot of good workers, bankers and even artists.
In a world that feels ever more desolate, Dagny finally finds out what is happening as she intercepts a brilliant young scientist who she had working for her on a new engine design. Following the airplane he is in using her own airplane, she crash lands in a remote valley, where she meets this 'Destroyer'. As it turns out, all the people who 'vanished' simply followed John Galt and the others like him.
Meeting back up with all these friends and acquaintances, Dagny is confronted with the greyness of her life back in New York. How every waking moment is spent on keeping a railroad network together, even when there are practically no foundries any more, and even what Rearden produces is 'equally distributed' so that Rearden Metal can be used for metal gadgets instead of railroad tracks to keep the country together.
Even then, Dagny is not ready to abandon 'her' railroad like so many of these people in the valley have already given up their life's works to escape that cycle of self-exploitation. Returning to New York, she keeps fighting for another few months, ripping out parts of still usable track to repair the main lines to keep a few trains running. Meanwhile the country suffers from shortages in just about everything. Coal, gasoline, food, everything is rationed and power shortages lead to frequent blackouts.
As the country slowly dies, the US government ends up capturing John Galt, the man who has been this persistent rumour for many years now, immortalised in the saying 'who is John Galt?'. Pinning their hopes on John Galt, the latter refuses to let himself to be used to try and fix what is wrong with the country, since those leading the country refuse to admit that their policies were flawed to begin with.
After a harrowing escape, Dagny, John and those who came to rescue them find themselves waiting out the collapse of society in their hideout, as they plan out how to bring the country back again.
The basic tenets here are similar to those portrayed in The Fountainhead: one's own happiness is paramount, as is fairness towards others. Talent and dedication in others is to be acknowledged and rewarded. One never gives anything without expecting something in return of equal value. One can only be guilty of a crime if one accepts the particular set of morals in which one's actions would be a transgression.
Another important point here is that personal happiness cannot be achieved through the exploitation of others. Although one's own happiness is more important than the happiness of others, one does not increase one's own happiness by reducing the happiness of others. Similarly, the exchange of something of equal value is a very relative thing, not necessarily defined in a monetary value. After all, material possessions mean nothing if one's heart and mind are devoid of joy.
Wrapping up, as I mentioned at the beginning, the flaws in this story are found mostly in its tendency to preach instead of just showing what it means. Looking at the story outside of those flaws, it is a highly enjoyable story that manages to bring its points across in a harrowing and haunting fashion. It contains very real, if simplified, warnings about both the dangers of totalitarianism as well as those of neo-liberalism [2], systems which are based on coercing the individual into self-exploitation.
Although I would hardly call myself a devout follower of Objectivism even after reading some of Ayn Rand's works, I find it very refreshing to read stories based around a philosophy which is so close to humanism and yet so scorned by many.
Maya
[1] https://mayaposch.blogspot.com/2020/05/my-formal-apology-to-ayn-rand-or.html
[2] https://mayaposch.blogspot.com/2020/07/altruism-is-anathema-to-humanism.html
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