Atlas Shrugged

I do not like green eggs and ham and I do not like Ayn Rand and her libertarian philosophy. I read The Fountainhead some years ago and found it peculiar and depressing. I have not read “Atlas Shrugged” but I have read the synopsis and will run far away from any attempt at reading it! So why am I writing about it? Well, that is the funny story.

Brother John and I were following The Great American Book Read on PBS over the spring and summer months and one of the books that struck John in the eye was “Atlas Shrugged”. For some odd reason he had a real beef with seeing it on the list and so I naturally was curious and asked him “why”? His answer was that it was coming out of the blue compared with any other reading list (not even on the lists) and he thought it was there for political reasons. He had heard of the novel (which I will confess I had not, at least not to recall it) via a Teaparty politician using it a few years ago when he said “Atlas shrugged”. Hmm, okay.

As the Book Read continued into the countdown in the autumn John was really riled to see it make it into the top 40, calling it a “put up job”. I must say I don’t think I have ever seen John get that annoyed about anything, much less a book.  Which is why I took the time to read the Wikipedia article on the book and I must say that he would be violently opposed to the whole theme of the book! His instinct was not wrong but then, having read The Fountainhead we already knew Rand’s think was the polar opposite of our own political beliefs. 
The curious thing is that many right wingers are beginning to embrace the book’s philosophy again. In effect, however, the philosophy ends up shooting itself in the foot because society requires a sharing not only of ideas but of productivity in order to function as a civilized community. Rand’s view is greedy and selfish, uncivilized and anti-social. Is that the sort of world one would want to live in? Oh, isn’t that the way the world is leaning today?

I only ask to be enlightened, but if you are too libertarian to share your view, by all means, don’t answer (I say, tongue-in-cheek).  After all, one needs a sense of humour and that I believe is free! She shrugged.