Finish "Atlas Shrugged"

Almost done but it took me AGES to get there! Very interesting book, I wish they’d translate it in French, would be MUCH easier for me to read! And I’m sure lots of French would benefit to hear of Ayn Rand’s philosophy too.

Just the other day I was reading this in class and my English teacher walked up and said she had tried and never been able to finish and admired my “courage.” I laughed.

Luckily she hasn’t noticed i haven’t been doing any of the class’ assigned reading…I’ll get to it soon, hopefully.

Been working on this on and off for about 2 months. In the home stretch now, just need to get motivated to finish.

I read recently that sales of “Atlas Shrugged” have skyrocketed on news of all the government financial bailouts, and I’ve seen articles where people have been saying life is imitating art. In the novel, the industrialists of the world disappear from society rather than accept the increasing government control over their enterprieses and the reallocation of their wealth. They wait for the socialist governments of the world to self-destruct so that they can come back and form a utopian society based on libertarian ideals. When I first read “Atlas” I was drawn into the idealism of “the virtue of selfishness”, that if we all became self-reliant and independently pursued our own “selfish” desires that the optimal society would magically emerge. There was one quote that stuck with me, which I’m paraphrasing, where the hero John Galt proclaims in his manifesto, “I will never live my life for another man nor ask another man to live for mine”.

After reading this novel, I joined the Libertarian party (of course, while living at home with dad, not working, and having government-subsidized student loans), and I truly believed that the society Ayn Rand envisioned could really come to be. After the euphoria of adopting a new found philosophy faded, I was able to think more critically and realize that this utopia could never exist. It assumes everyone makes rational decisions and has similar philosophy and outlook on life and makes no room for dealing with market failures, which presumably don’t exist in Ayn Rand’s world. People generally are not rational enough of the time; rather they are myopic, seeing only very short-termed objectives as relevant in their decision-making process, which is further based on imperfect knowledge. I dropped the Libertarian affiliation and thought more pragmatically about the role of government.

I was thinking recently about what should be the right level and type of government intervention in the economy in light of the financial crisis. There are some areas where I think there was not enough government intervention. I think there was not enough regulation of the use of financial derivatives or more particularly of the insurance of these derivatives via credit default swaps. I also think that there was also not enough done to prevent market failures like allowing financial institutions to build monopoly power via mergers in that no company should ever be allowed to become “too big to fail”.

I also think there were instances where government intervention in the economy was inappropriate. Most significantly, I think that the Fed kept interest rates too low for too long which helped spawn the cheap credit mania and ensuing housing market bubble. I don’t think that fiscal stimulus packages will make much of a dent in terms of improving the economy as I think there are too many other structural problems with the economy that can’t be helped by them. As I said before, people are short-sighted and also in general don’t understand economics. They want the government to do something, so to appease them politicians put together these stimulus packages to give the air of having done something when there’s low likelihood that they actually have.

It will be very interesting to see how this mess all sorts itself out. Thinking of these problems makes me wish that this utopia that Ayn Rand wrote of could really exist.

This is a truly incredible book. It took me 6 months to read, mainly because I’ve been so busy, but I’m glad I finished it off. I really like Rand’s ideas, and I love how she portrays them in this book.

Took much longer for me to finish Atlas Shrugged than The Fountainhead. Loved it, all Ayn Rand’s work is still so relevant and thought provoking.

It took /forever/ to finish, but it was oh so worth it! While I can’t say I agree with /everything/, it certainly has made me think differently about a lot. I have definitely decided that I am truly a Libertarian after reading this book. The basic premise of Rand’s message is great. Don’t be afraid to work hard and use your mind instead of sitting on your butt and letting others work hard for you. :) I could expand on my thoughts, but I’ll do it in my blog.

...more to go…

...but very thought provoking. I’m about 3/4 through at this point. I’m enjoying it immensely, but it will take me a little while longer to get through it.

took me two months!