In dystopic Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart faced huge obstacles keeping the railroad running. But the president of the nation, Mr. Thompson, authorized the Payroll Protection Plan. Would Dagny fill out the application paperwork herself, or would she delegate that to Eddie Willers? Howard Roark said No to the Manhattan Bank Building commission, even though […]
What Would Dagny Do? Ayn Rand on the PPP Read More »
Happy to be going to this event tomorrow night, black tie and everything. I’ll be speaking for about five minutes on the themes of superheroes, Atlas Shrugged, and the philosophy young people need to realize their lives fully.
Gala in New York City — TAS’s annual celebration Read More »
Professor Paul Kidder published a short article entitled “The Simplistic Flaw in Ayn Rand’s Philosophy: A philosophy professor dissects the faulty logic in the libertarians’ favorite deep-thinker.” Kidder’s argument is that Rand’s position amounts to asserting that only entirely self-sufficient entrepreneurs have worth; consequently her philosophy is flawed in overlooking or ignoring the value that
Philosopher Paul Kidder on Rand Read More »
As someone who read and loved the book, this movie totally worked for me. Schilling’s Dagny is intelligent, emotionally expressive, and beautiful. Bowler’s Hank Rearden is equally intelligent and competent, with occasionally bemused, understated humor and equally occasionally understated anger. And the sexual chemistry between the two — yes, indeed. Wisocky is tone-perfect as that
Atlas Shrugged movie — first reaction Read More »
In the Atlas Shrugged chapter entitled “Wyatt’s Torch” (1.10), Rand has the increasingly desperate central planners pass the “Public Stability Law,” one provision of which states that “All the manufacturing establishments of the country, of any size and nature, were forbidden to move from their present locations.” In the novel’s collapsing economy, many companies are
Atlas Shrugged is really a documentary, datum #217 Read More »
Marcel Duchamp’s urinal was named most influential work of modern art of all time, according to a vote by 500 critics. Duchamp named it Fountain. It was initially rejected for display at the Society of Independent Artists exhibit in 1917, whereupon Duchamp’s allies argued that it was a worthy work of art along four lines:
Marcel Duchamp and Lillian Rearden Read More »
I’ve been browsing Anne Heller’s biography of Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand and the World She Made came out last year, and I am late to the discussion. I was stuck by this line about the New York City that Rand lived in while she was writing Atlas Shrugged. Heller writes: “New York was such a
America’s weird political lexicon Read More »