What Happens when the Government Tries to Control Business?

Atlas Shrugged is the classic novel by Ayn Rand that many consider the conservative Bible. I would suggest that this might hold true for fiscal conservatism. I could see where religious conservatives might have issues with the exculpation of some moral issues dealt with in the book as well as an almost atheistic tone that made me perceive this tome as a bit humanistic. I enjoyed the novel and found many of the concepts almost prophetic given the current climate of government take-over. That makes for some scary thoughts.

My biggest complaint about Atlas Shrugged lies in the detail. The book rambles on at times giving exquisite but distracting descriptions of everything. The book has a solid plot with intricately woven details carefully placed throughout the book. Ayn Rand has the ability to describe the world with an amazing articulation that paints a visual picture for the reader. In addition to painting a vivid picture, the descriptions often relay the mood of the character in question. But more on that later. The descriptive nature of this book often strays so far from the content being explored that the broader picture gets lost in the minutia. It was a laborious struggle at times to delve into the intricate painting being described while holding on to the theme that Rand was covering.

The flip side of the picturesque descriptions lies in the carefully constructed imagery that artfully projects the internal conflicts of the characters based on their perceptions. For instance, the skyline of New York could be described many different ways. Are the building large tombstones, reflecting a somber mood, or foreshadowing the death of a city? Are the lights like stars signifying eternity or endlessness? Rand has an amazing gift of taking mundane images and giving them attributes that provide depth of understanding both of the character and the story. I was truly amazed at some of the descriptions in spite of the struggle to maintain a connection to the top layer of the story.

Ayn Rand has a tendency to beat the reader over the top of the head with a few of her concepts. I agree with Rand and found many of her concepts to be beyond insightful, almost seer-like, based on the current political climate. However, there were themes that were well ferreted out that seemed to continually creep into the text. The repetition was tedious for me. I understood the broader concepts at work, and felt that they were handled with exceptional detail, but not efficiency. I believe that Atlas Shrugged could be condensed to 500 pages (from the current 1168) without losing any of its significance.

Atlas Shrugged contains a wide range of characters. These characters run the gamut from lovable to detestable. Rand effectively attributes traits to these characters that paint an interesting picture. Due to the subject nature, some of the characters come across as a bit flat. That seems to be intentional and goes back to the idea that there are concepts that are taken to the nth degree. However, there are sparks of various positive traits in some of the troublesome characters. Basically, anyone who works for the government is bad. Rand does seem to make an effort to avoid painting every profession as good or evil. For instance, there was a brief exchange with a reporter who really wanted the truth. This character was a very minor character but demonstrated Rand's attempt to provide some balance.

On page 484, I discovered a paragraph which I chose to relate to the current state of affairs. To quote Rand "This was the real sentence imposed upon him, he thought - to discover what idea, what simple idea available to the simplest man, had made mankind accept the doctrines that led to its self-destruction." I view that short paragraph as a summary of the true future of the United States. It seems to me that the course we have chosen can only lead to the destruction of our way of life. With debt and deficits that can never be paid, government intervention in every aspect of commerce and endless taxation, the government that Ayn Rand created in Atlas Shrugged seems to have evolved in real life. That is not merely a knock on the current Administration. The skyrocketing debt has been severely increased in recent months, but has a long history crossing several Administrations. As a fiscal conservative, my thought is that it is time to get our financial house in order. Ignoring the issue will not make it go away.

Was Ayn Rand a prophetess, idealist or simply a novelist with zany ideas? I disagreed with many of Rand's presumptions and don't subscribe to a purely objectivist world. However, the story that Rand tells provides a compelling parallel to the world in which we now live. Her insight into the relationship between government, intellectuals, industry and citizens makes for an amazing story with concepts that hit way too close to home. Whether you subscribe to her ideas or not, it is interesting to see the destruction of a country follow so close a path as the one we are currently on. So I personally view Atlas Shrugged as a wake-up call. Although written a half century ago, Rand understood the delicate balance between government's role as tax collector or interventionist and industry's role as producer and employer. The presuppositions that Rand subscribes to seems fairly accurate in retrospect. I would highly recommend Atlas Shrugged which might cast current events in a new (old) light.