Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged is an amazing book about the struggles of men in a doomed world. I don't want to ruin much of the story, but I do want to say that any advocate of capitalism will find this book more than captivating. This book is all about the fall of humanity, and though it was written at least fifty years ago, it describes our current situation fairly well.

Every country in this world described by Ann Rand is falling towards socialism, and most are "People's States," which means that they are basically a huge hell hole where no work gets done because no one wants to work. The systems that are put into place are described as work based on ability and pay based on need. This makes everyone do their worst in all situations so they don't have to do extra work, and lie about their situations so that they can make extra money. Therefore, the "honest" people feel embarrassed at taking "alms," and not making money for the work they've done. They feel as if they're not earning their wages. So, the world is plunging into darkness, and a few industrialists are trying to fight back, but there's a "destroyer" in the world that is out to "stop the motor of the world." All of this combined adds up to an amazing story and many shocking twists, as well as many predictable happenings. Readers can never be sure whether or not their predictions will come true.

Ann Rand is an amazing author with a superlative philosophy on life called objectivism. This book more than demonstrates that philosophy, but I feel as if I need to read more of her works. I have personally purchased three of her novels, and likely enough I will purchase some of her nonfiction works soon. I feel as if I have a new way to look at the world now that I have read this book.

Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. It was Rand's last work of fiction before concentrating her writings exclusively on philosophy, politics and cultural criticism. At over one thousand pages in length, she considered it her magnum opus. The book explores a number of philosophical themes that Rand would subsequently develop into the philosophy of Objectivism.