09-01-2003, 08:17 AM
Atlas Shrugged is my favorite book of all time. With that said, I agree with Gonzo.
As a work of fiction, it's flawed. It presents a black-and-white world where the protagonists are ultra-pure and the antagonists are ultra-corrupt. Rand would agree with this; she has said that her heroes are "man as they ought to be," not man as they are.
What I love about Ayn Rand's work is not necessarily the story, but the philosophy behind it. One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, Ayn Rand gave to us Objectivism, a scientific approach to metaphysics, politics, economics, etc. And while her personal biases and flaws DID get in the way of her own "objective" writings, what she left us with is an excellent blueprint which we can use to improve ourselves, and improve each other. I wish everyone in the world would read Ayn Rand's works, because you just CAN'T read Atlas or The Fountainhead and not realize that there's a world of opportunity out there.
Even when that opportunity is actively and purposely crushed by certain powers who maintain power by crushing others (had to get that in...).
As a work of fiction, it's flawed. It presents a black-and-white world where the protagonists are ultra-pure and the antagonists are ultra-corrupt. Rand would agree with this; she has said that her heroes are "man as they ought to be," not man as they are.
What I love about Ayn Rand's work is not necessarily the story, but the philosophy behind it. One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, Ayn Rand gave to us Objectivism, a scientific approach to metaphysics, politics, economics, etc. And while her personal biases and flaws DID get in the way of her own "objective" writings, what she left us with is an excellent blueprint which we can use to improve ourselves, and improve each other. I wish everyone in the world would read Ayn Rand's works, because you just CAN'T read Atlas or The Fountainhead and not realize that there's a world of opportunity out there.
Even when that opportunity is actively and purposely crushed by certain powers who maintain power by crushing others (had to get that in...).