Ayn Rand

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Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | Economics, Political Survival Kit, Quotes |

“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion — when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing — when you see money flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors — when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you — when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed.”
– Ayn Rand

I’ve picked up a couple of Ayn Rand novels and couldn’t stomach them. Occasionally I’ll read something like this and cheer, but wonder how the author of that snippet is the author I tried to read.

I looked up that quote. It’s apparently from Atlas Shrugged, and is part of the so-called “Francisco Money Speech.” That nugget above is buried in the ore of a long-winded polemic that no one could speak, much less listen to in its entirety. But that nugget really is golden.

4 Comments to Ayn Rand

Placebo
October 8, 2009

Per the quotation … We have arrived! Yipeee.

theirritablearchitect
October 8, 2009

About 75 pages worth of polemic, as I recall.

She beats one about the head, neck and face with it too…and it sure feels as though you’ve been through the ringer afterwards, too.
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C. Jeffery Small
October 8, 2009

Interesting. There are many people, myself included, that find Rand’s literary work of very high caliber and really enjoy the integration of the literature and the polemics. However, I do know some people that do not like fiction, and prefer Rand’s non-fiction writing, which is a model of clarity and conciseness. So, based upon your admiration for the quote above, you might give some of her collected writings a try. I recommend “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal” for discussion of economics and politics and “The Virtue of Selfishness” for topics on morality. Start with either and see what you think.

Regards,
–
C. Jeffery Small

Tony McGill
October 9, 2009

I did the audio book of Atlas shrugged last year. It was 52 hours. At about 37 hours I had too much invested to quit. The concepts and characters are great, but her writting style is pretty tedious. It’s like watching a slow train wreck where they keeping cutting back to the instant replay.

That being said, the news is looking more and more like an Orson Wells adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.