Take a solid base of Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”, stir in a gallon of Orwell’s “1984”, mix in some of Ambrose’s “Nothing Like It In The World”, and finally add a pinch of Orczy’s “The Scarlett Pimpernel” and what you end up with is the basic recipe for “Atlas Shrugged”. An interesting story with solid ideas, sound plot progression, and a whole army of windbags.
If you’re into plots then here’s the story. While no year is ever mentioned in the book one gets the feel that it’s taking place in the 40’s or 50’s America. The world has fallen into a collective of “People’s States” all vying to get the most goods out of the world’s last capitalist nation, the USA. However within the US is a growing sentiment towards Socialism and so the beleagured guardians of free trade fight a running battle with their antagonists, the “looters” who wish to place as much bureaucratic restriction and taxation on the money-makers as possible so that “it’s fair for everyone”. The main protaganists are Dagny Taggart, heiress and prime mover of Taggart Transcontinental Railroad, and Henry Rearden, a from the ground up multimillionaire who has marketed a new miracle metal. As public sentiment begins to turn against big business, leading industrialists and entrepeneurs begin disappearing across the nation one by one, with no clue as to their whereabouts. And as each one vanishes the country sinks deeper into the miasma of “fairness”.
The Essay on United Nations World Countries China
... vote on resolutions", which consisted of all the sovereign Nations of the world and the Security Council with five permanent members with ... continuation of the League of Nation. Which was formed after the World War II. The League of Nations was formed by many countries, ... with different ideologies. The world was being divided between communism and capitalism. But the League of Nations did not have the ...
Continuing their fight against the “looters”, which Dagny and Hank refer to those who wish to get their money, not by earning it but rather by taking it from the rich, the protaganists fight a losing battle against bureaucracy. The theme strikes a harmonic chord within me today when I see politicians on tv demanding heavier taxes on the “wealthiest 1%”, and after reading this book I have a much deeper understanding and appreciation for those at the top, many of whom worked their way there after starting with nothing but talent and drive.
The ideal of the book is sound. Place little to no restrictions on those who have that ambition and drive. Let them make the money and as a whole the country will experience an economic boom the likes of which the world has never known. Overburden them, attack them, or otherwise take them down and you end up in an economic, non-productive quagmire. To be sure, I certainly agree with the premise Ms. Rand has to say. I do not much care for the characters though, and that is the truth. Dagny and Rearden, while I have sympathy for their troubles, sometimes irked me a bit with their almost extremist positions. Likewise the government officials and social juggernaughts on the other end of the spectrum were rather cartoonish, designed to be disliked. To be honest I cannot say that any character ever really “developed” per se, more than they just moved from place to place like philosophical locusts, forcing me to flee by quickly skimming over pages at a time until I could get to the next plot twist. And John Galt’s speech exemplifies the word “repetitive” to the extreme, lasting some 20+ pages and essentially droning out the same thing each paragraph, letting the question “Who is John Galt” make you wish you’d never asked.
The melodramatic addition of the disappearing industrialists was what really kept me going, and the unfolding sequence of events on the country kept me glued to the book. The essence of this tome will make a liberal squeamish, a capitalist beam with pride, and will bore the living snot out of the average reader. This is heavy stuff, not to be digested in a lighthearted fashion. It will have the effect of making you opinionated on the subject and perhaps even a bit appreciative that all our top businessmen and women are all firmly in place and aren’t disappearing off someplace to evade the next Congressional tax hike.
International Economic Policy Book Review
International Economic Policy: Book Review The book reviewed in this essay, International Economic Policy in the 1990 s, was to focus on some of the most recent concerns about international trade. Its author, William R. cline, seems to have some good insights about the topic as it seems that he researched, taught and lectured about this field of study. The author tried to be as objective as ...
Definitely recommended reading for businesspeople and aspiring politicians, or general purpose economic news junkies.
