Every Company Needs a Good Map

I finally finished reading Atlas Shrugged during my holiday break. I wish I had taken time to read it 20 years ago. I would have looked at so many things differently. I'm not saying that every point she tries to make is a great one but there are some very significant ones to be remembered.

I had to get past the use of trains, landline phones, and steel as the dominant industry. I was also amused by the absence of real government titles. After all, it seems to me that it is the use of governmental power that the "looters" finally grab to ruin the whole world.

My observations, or the things that seemed the most important:

1. We are not all equal - we are all of value but that is not the same
   
2. Those that take more than they contribute are looters, thieves, and evil
   
3. People who are afraid of competition often lie, cheat, and steal to hold on 
4. People who create value benefit from it and often, so does everyone else
5. Looters are happy to give away other peoples money, more so if they get paid for it
   
6. No one owes you anything you do not earn except your parents who raise you

 I suppose the first point could get me in a lot of trouble. The plain fact is that some are smarter, stronger, or more willing than others. That is why we have athletes, doctors, and so on. Just because we all have a brain, it does not mean that those brains are the same. There are many examples of situations where a person has more than another and the cause was not the effort of the second but actions by previous generations. We have to deal with the cards dealt to us. Those who chose to improve themselves usually will. Those who try to force others to give them a break usually fail in the end anyway.

I'm not a literary critic in any fashion. I thought Ms. Rand went on and on a bit more than was needed in many places. I also thought the lack of vision about the world in the future was interesting, but then she was not a science-fiction writer. I do recommend the book and I imagine that many Republicans will find support in it and many Democrats too. One can draw different conclusions depending on the point of view you have as you read it.

When I went looking for a cover image I found that there are many people who recently read the book. I also found out that there will be a movie with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the next year or so.

I also found an online bookstore selling a first edition - for only $2950! (that cover is the image for this post)