“Atlas Shrugged”, written in 1957 by philosopher and writer Ayn Rand, is a big, powerful work that clearly defines the way we should live, think and feel in the objectivist universe.
The book is set in the US in an industrial age where two sets of people are caught up in a social and economic war. Strong characters like Dagny Taggart – a railroad tycoon, Hank Rearden – a self-made steel magnate, Francisco d’Anconia – the heir of a copper dynasty exemplify the values of ‘profit with pride’, ‘excellence in all forms – physical and mental’ and ‘values that are of a particular moral standard’.
They are pitted against the general world of people who ‘feel’ rather than ‘think’, who believe the weak deserve a fair share of all profits and in general project themselves as altruistic. Over a massive 645,000 words the story restlessly unfolds itself to reveal what happens if ‘unlimited power is bequeathed to limited minds’.
During my teen and young adult years this book and Rand’s other works had a sweeping impact on our internet-free generations, when we felt connected to the world through such musings. The book evoked love and disdain in equal measure.
Leafing through a tattered copy at a later stage in life, I regret not being able to identify with the black and white value system as much, but there is no doubt that searching for the answer of ‘Who is John Galt’ still reverberates through our collective conscious.
