I see a lot of people that criticize Ayn Rand's book as propagandist and trash, but how can you look at the world today and NOT see similarities and red flags all over the place?

Corrupt Govt that uses EOs and Regulations to bypass the voters and Constitution

Corporations in bed with Govt

Chip shortages/Magnesium shortages

Empty store shelves

Inflation

Identity politics rule, destroy lives

People leaving jobs, while companies simultaneously fire people for not getting jabbed and complain about workforce shortages

Anti O&G stances

It's crazy....

Spelling matters

Womackster said:

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Spelling matters

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AggieKatie2 said:

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Womackster said:

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Spelling matters

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*Grammar matters.

Dos Tasadores De TAMU said:

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AggieKatie2 said:

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Womackster said:

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Spelling matters

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*Grammar matters.

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Who is John Galt, and FJB

Got here late........

What were AggieKatie2's spelling and grammatical errors?

...just trying to improve my communications skills.

She was prescient on a lot of political prophecies, for sure.

A lot of the book is "objectivist" propaganda that should be ignored by rational people. If it seems too long, just skip over all of the romance stuff.

It is required reading for my kids and all my nieces and nephews before or right after graduating high school.

C@LAg said:

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I shurgged myself this morning. Best 26 seconds of the day!

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Dilly, Dilly!

This morning I asked a client if he'd read it and he said no. I told him not to because it would depress him. It is a really strong prediction of modern day life. Atlas Shrugged, 1984, Animal Farm and Idiocracy are amazing in their ability to predict the current state of affairs.

A great scene from the trial of Hank Rearden.

Bring guns!

Tough book to get through but Rand got a lot correct about our modern world.

Animal Farm needs to be in there too.

BusterAg said:

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Animal Farm needs to be in there too.

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Correct. Edited.

BaileyAg said:

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Tough book to get through but Rand got a lot correct about our modern world.

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The difference between Atlas Shrugged versus today is that the government is still competent enough to hold a relative monopoly on force. Can't run if you get drone striked or beaten until you do work.

Love this book aside from the long rambling speech and it has clear parallels to current times.

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No, I do not want my attitude to be misunderstood. I shall be glad to state it for the record. I am in full agreement with the facts of everything said about me in the newspapers - with the facts, but not with the evaluation. I work for nothing but my own profit - which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage - and I am proud of every penny that I have earned in this manner. I am rich and I am proud of every penny I own. I made my money by my own effort, in free exchange and through the voluntary consent of every man I dealt with - voluntary consent of those who employed me when I started, the voluntary consent of those who work for me now, the voluntary consent of those who buy my product. I shall answer all the questions you are afraid to ask me openly.

Do I wish to pay my workers more than their services are worth to me? I do not. Do I wish to sell my product for less than my customers are willing to pay me? I do not. Do I wish to sell it at a loss or give it away? I do not. If this is evil, do whatever you please about me, according to whatever standards you hold. These are mine. I am earning my own living, as every honest man must. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact of my own existence and the fact that I must work in order to support it. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it better than most people - the fact that my work is of greater value than the work of my neighbours and that more men are willing to pay me. I refuse to apologise for my ability - I refuse to apologise for my success - I refuse to apologise for my money. If this is evil, make the most of it. If this is what the public finds harmful to its interests, let the public destroy me. This is my code - and I will accept no other. I could say to you that I have done more good for my fellow men than you can ever hope to accomplish - but I will not say it, because I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognise the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life. I will not say that the good of others was the purpose of my work - my own good was my purpose, and I despise the man who surrenders his. I could say to you that you do not serve the public good - that nobody's good can be achieved at the price of human sacrifices - that when you violate the rights of one man, you have violated the right of all, and a public ofrightless creatures is doomed to destruction. I could say to you that you will and can achieve nothing but universal devastation - as any looter must, when he runs out of victims. I could say it, but I won't.

It is not your particular policy that I challenge, but your moral premise. If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and I were asked to immolate myself for the sake of creatures who wanted to survive at the price of my blood, if I were asked to serve the interests of society apart from, above and against my own - I would refuse. I would reject it as the most contemptible evil, I would fight it with every power I possess, I would fight the whole of mankind, if one minute were all I could last before I were murdered, I would fight in the full confidence of the justice of my battle and of a living being's right to exist. Let there be no misunderstanding about me. If it is now the belief of my fellow men, who call themselves the public, that their good requires victims, then I say: The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!"

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BaileyAg said:

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Tough book to get through but Rand got a lot correct about our modern world.

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The fountainhead was tough for me to get through, but I couldn't put Atlas Shrugged down

Scary the parallels between the book and today

A couple of notables are:

-People just not wanting to work
-Coordination between big business and government to erode the rights of the people
- executive orders and Czar types
- same coordination with media
-supply chain issues
-"Unexpectedly" / "what can you do, what can anybody do"

Rand's masterpiece is summarized with the simple phrase "A is A". This destructive, deceitful, dangerous and corrupt administration believes they can convince Americans A is B. But it's not. And Americans are not dumb. They will fail. Americans are waking up. And FJB.