Timely Reading

This morning's WSJ had a great op-ed piece referring to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. 

Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club

Given the current economic and political situation, I think it's time for yet another re-reading. 

If you haven't ever read it, maybe you should.

Comments

[Dave Vellante]

Chuck...It’s been a while since I read Atlas Shrugged (and the Fountainhead). They were required reading amongst the entrepreneurial analysts when I joined IDC in 1983. Thanks for reminding me to dust of these inspirational classics.

Rynd’s definition of 'greed' was (roughly) be innovative, love what you do, work hard, produce something of value, be honest and make profits.

I for one am proud to see that technology companies are not lining up with hats in hands looking for government handouts, rather virtually every company is looking to help people do more with less.

Greed is good. Long live John Galt!

[Bob D]

I suggested to my company management that we stop manufacturing disk products and transform the company into a bank or investment bank so we could be eligible for bailout money.

They haven't responded :-)

[Gershon Babula]

I think the survey may be a bit off. At the very least it does not square with the voting-in of tax-and-spenders and the proliferation of stimulus packages, bailouts, and other very non-objectivist ideas. Excellent book though.

[Geoff Mitchell]

Excellent novel - I enjoyed reading this in my teenage years - and yes, quite pertinent to today's economic and political scenario.

Recalling that this was written right in the midst of the paranoia, rhetoric and fear that was MacCarthyism and the Cold War, it was a great book for those times and has stood the test fairly well. Orwell's 1984 was another perspective on this new world order, albeit darker.
As for that survey, this wasn't the one where "Battlefield Earth" came third, was it? :)

[Sudhir Brahma]

I am glad you brought this up Chuck and I thank you for seeing a similarity here. You have "packaged" your observations of the current situation quite nicely by referring to this book and I appreciate it- a very effective way of conveying a simple message (my understanding of Atlas Shrugged): When chips are down, people who drive value become visible and the system realizes their importance.
Maybe it is a natural corrective process ..and we could see these cycles repeating?
regards
sudhir.brahma@gmail.com

[Jerry Wilkin]

Thank you! It is encouraging to see a prominent businessman and blogger encourage others to read Atlas Shrugged.

If I remember correctly, that was based on a Library of Congress study published in 1999. It was statistically relevant based on sample size, questions in the survey, etc.

Here is a good resource for businessmen that may be of interest: http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=businessmen_index

[Gary Watson]

Wow, Chuck, I never thought I'd be 100% in agreement with you about anything but indeed we are living today in the world of Atlas Shrugged and the book is more relevant than ever. Right now, I'd say we are about mid-way through Part 2 but I fear we don't have a John Galt standing by to pick up the pieces when we get to Part 3.

Gary Watson, Nexsan Technologies