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It addresses the morality of crybabies. The major theme of the book is that these titans of industry were such a bunch of whiners who didn't get enough respect

by jbooth 16y ago

It addresses the morality of crybabies. The major theme of the book is that these titans of industry were such a bunch of whiners who didn't get enough respect and love from people, so they peaced out to show the world who was really important. Guess what? If you do that, I'll just take your job. 4 weeks of transition and we'll be rolling again. That's called being the boss. You're accountable and the people who are smaller than you can snipe, you can be bigger than that or you can be one of them. I find it hard to believe that anybody who's actually had any responsibility in their life would ever get behind taking your ball and going home to spite people.

brg 16y ago
You missed or ignore a good portion of the book. No hero of the book was a crybaby; no one whined to their parents, friends, or authorities to get their way. Every hero of the book took it upon them self to better their own situation at the expense of no one else. They saw it was full of crybabies, and removed themselves by their own volition. I can't see why anyone has a problem with someone else just asking to be left alone.
grandalf 16y ago
You seem to think that someone whose passion is business (in the case of Atlas Shrugged mechanical engineering) should somehow feel a strong obligation to create on behalf of others. Nobody expects this of painters, poets, or writers because it is understood that their creative acts are done with love and personal importance. But creation is creation, whether it's an alloy or a painting or a poem. Rand's point was that it is the same driving force that moves humanity forward. The question is whether you think of it as something that should be coveted and respected (like, say, the musings of a Poet) or if you simply look at the distribution of wealth and declare that all that is unimportant, that the creative person should care more about helping others than about pursuing his/her work. The point of the book was not to suggest that people leave, but to show how the morality described in the book could stand alone as first principles of an improved society. The book is a novel of ideas and not (as you seem to have taken it) as a literal prescription for how individuals in society should act.

by jbooth 16y ago

brg 16y ago

You missed or ignore a good portion of the book. No hero of the book was a crybaby; no one whined to their parents, friends, or authorities to get their way. Every hero of the book took it upon them self to better their own situation at the expense of no one else. They saw it was full of crybabies, and removed themselves by their own volition. I can't see why anyone has a problem with someone else just asking to be left alone.

grandalf 16y ago

You seem to think that someone whose passion is business (in the case of Atlas Shrugged mechanical engineering) should somehow feel a strong obligation to create on behalf of others. Nobody expects this of painters, poets, or writers because it is understood that their creative acts are done with love and personal importance. But creation is creation, whether it's an alloy or a painting or a poem. Rand's point was that it is the same driving force that moves humanity forward. The question is whether you think of it as something that should be coveted and respected (like, say, the musings of a Poet) or if you simply look at the distribution of wealth and declare that all that is unimportant, that the creative person should care more about helping others than about pursuing his/her work. The point of the book was not to suggest that people leave, but to show how the morality described in the book could stand alone as first principles of an improved society. The book is a novel of ideas and not (as you seem to have taken it) as a literal prescription for how individuals in society should act.