RSS 2.0 FeedThe Historical Significance Of Atlas Shrugged
by Doug MataconisToday marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged and, over at RealClearPolitics, Robert Tracinski has an excellent essay on the historical significance of the novel, and the ideas that it embodies:
The most radical aspect of Atlas Shrugged is that Ayn Rand found suspense, heroism, and profound philosophical meaning in the achievements of the entrepreneurs and industrialists who were reshaping the world.
Atlas Shrugged was written in an age of creeping global socialism. Extrapolating from the trends of the day, Ayn Rand projected a future in which most of the world’s nations are collapsing into the poverty and oppression of socialist “people’s states,” while America itself is collapsing under the weight of an increasing government takeover of the economy.
She saw the dramatic potential in asking a single question: what would happen if the innovative entrepreneurs and businessmen–after decades of being vilified and regulated–started to disappear? The disappearance of the world’s productive geniuses provides the novel’s central mystery, both factually and intellectually.
(…)
The factual question is: where did all of these people go? Why did they give up their work? Is there someone or something that is causing them to disappear?
The philosophical question raised by this plot is: what is the role of the entrepreneurs and innovators in a society? What motivates them, what are the conditions they need in order to work, and what happens to the world when they disappear? The factual mystery is integrated with the novel’s deepest philosophical question: what is the moral status of the businessman and industrialist?
Capitalism unleashed an extraordinary burst of scientific and technological innovation and of human creativity–yet this had largely gone unrecognized as a phenomenon with any moral or intellectual significance. Ayn Rand was the first to celebrate the accomplishments of the James Watts and Andrew Carnegies and Thomas Edisons and to recognize in their productive energies an example of moral heroism.
The whole essay is worth a read, as is the book. For me, the book was the beginning of an intellectual journey that continues to this day and, for me, it set in stone the idea that the free market is good not just because it works, which it does, but because it is morally right.
Tracinski goes on to say:
Most intellectuals have accepted the old altruist caricature of self-interest as brute criminality, as if the only choice we face is between forms of sacrifice: sacrificing ourselves for the sake of others or sacrificing others to ourselves. Yet this caricature is thoroughly refuted by the history of capitalism. The philosophy of altruism gives us a choice between two moral models: Mother Theresa or Al Capone. Yet where is the room in this philosophy for a Bill Gates, a Thomas Edison, or any of the thousands of other figures who populate the history of capitalism, building their own fortunes through the creation of new ideas and products?
For the first time, Ayn Rand recognized the reality and significance of these men and drew a profound moral lesson: that genuine self-interest means, not the short-range conniving of the brute, but the creative thought and productive effort of the entrepreneur.
Ayn Rand’s detractors sometimes dismiss her novels as “unrealistic,” but it is today’s mainstream intellectuals who frequently seem as if they are wandering around in a fog of unreality, missing the monumental lessons of two centuries of history.
The era of encroaching global socialism has since given way to an era of global capitalism, which is beginning to transform the lives of billions of people across the globe, from Eastern Europe to India to China. But there is no one to help them understand what capitalism is, its deepest personal meaning for their lives and values, and why it is good.
Well, not exactly, there is Atlas Shrugged
[...] Cross posted at The Liberty Papers [...]
Pingback by Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » The Historical Significance Of Atlas Shrugged — October 10, 2007 @ 3:52 pmYou know, I’ve never understood the impact of this book. That it has had a big impact is undeniable; lots of people mention it as one of the formative books of their youth. Perhaps it’s only that we’re all quite impressionable when we’re in college and we can be profoundly influenced by some books. For me it was Thoreau’s Walden.
But my first encounter with the book was only about six years ago. I had promised a friend to read it. It didn’t impress me at all; I found it very preachy and quite pedestrian in its analysis of social issues. I remember being shocked at how dumb this book was; I had always assumed, based on reputation, that Ayn Rand was a deep thinker, but the book I read was about as mature in its thinking as some of the rants I read on the web. I finally gave up on it about a quarter of the way through; it was just too childish. I did, however, thumb to the back of the book to see if I was missing anything. The last page left me laughing out loud. How could anybody take this tripe seriously? I thought.
Obviously, there are lots of people who take this book seriously. And it is rather rude of me to treat their favorite book so dismissively. I wonder what I’d think of similar remarks made about Walden. And I won’t argue that Rand does make some decent points in the book. But the points she makes well are fairly obvious and the mistakes she makes are pretty much howlers.
Comment by Chepe Noyon — October 10, 2007 @ 10:33 pmAfter re-reading my post, I realize that it is incumbent upon me to provide some specifics. Rather than delve back through that book, I will instead raise some of the points made in the above commentary. Here’s a good starting point:
Capitalism unleashed an extraordinary burst of scientific and technological innovation and of human creativity–yet this had largely gone unrecognized as a phenomenon with any moral or intellectual significance. Ayn Rand was the first to celebrate the accomplishments of the James Watts and Andrew Carnegies and Thomas Edisons
Well, actually, no. Rand was not the first to lionize the inventors and entrepreneurs. Thomas Edison was a widely admired celebrity in his own time. James Watt was invited to join all the prestigious scientific societies of his time, and there were numerous statues erected in his memory long before Ayn Rand came along — including a huge one at Westminster Abbey.
The notion that those who have created wealth are vilified by society is a falsehood. The reverse is true.
Here’s another example:
Most intellectuals have accepted the old altruist caricature of self-interest as brute criminality, as if the only choice we face is between forms of sacrifice: sacrificing ourselves for the sake of others or sacrificing others to ourselves.
“Most intellectuals”? Yes, there are some, to be sure. But to suggest that this school of thought is preponderant among the intelligentsia is grossly wrong. It certainly does not include any economists and few political scientists.
The philosophy of altruism gives us a choice between two moral models: Mother Theresa or Al Capone.
If anybody can name a respected intellectual who has presented moral choices in such stark terms, I’d love to hear it. Again, I’m sure that you can find a few — but to suggest that these people control the universe is just plain wrong.
For the first time, Ayn Rand recognized the reality and significance of these men and drew a profound moral lesson: that genuine self-interest means, not the short-range conniving of the brute, but the creative thought and productive effort of the entrepreneur.
Again, this is historically incorrect. How about Adam Smith? How about ANY of the economists who preceded Ayn Rand? How about the classic Horatio Alger books, of which there were many variations both before and after Mr. Alger himself? Ms. Rand was nowhere near being a pioneer in this. Indeed, during the 1920s much of the public fare regarding such men bordered on hagiography.
Comment by Chepe Noyon — October 10, 2007 @ 11:04 pmI found myself agreeing with a lot of Ayn Rand’s philosophy and her respect for the innovators in society, but frankly I thought the story itself was absolute shit. If I’d known that all I had to do was read the last ten or twenty pages to get her point, frankly I wouldn’t have bothered with the rest of it.
Comment by UCrawford — October 10, 2007 @ 11:46 pmAnd Chepe’s right. Rand certainly wasn’t the first writer to be saying this stuff. She wasn’t even the first woman to write this stuff. She was simply the most widely cited.
Comment by UCrawford — October 10, 2007 @ 11:49 pmIn fact, I thought that South Park kind of summed up my Atlas Shrugged experience best:
“Yes, at first I was happy to be learning how to read. It seemed exciting and magical, but then I read this: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I read every last word of this garbage, and because of this piece of shit, I am never reading again.” –police officer Barbrady, South Park (1998)
Comment by UCrawford — October 10, 2007 @ 11:52 pm