Why John Galt is an inventor
ATLAS SUMMIT 2014 -- Why did John Galt say: “I was an inventor. I was one of a profession that came last in human history and will be first
Sep 3, 2014
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ATLAS SUMMIT 2014 -- Why did John Galt say: “I was an inventor. I was one of a profession that came last in human history and will be first
The central plot device in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is the strike of the producers led by John Galt. And the essential purpose of the
GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says that Republicans “have often lost sight of the fact that our average voter is not John Galt.
Bitcoin is a digital money sweeping the world and offering some degree of freedom from government currencies. It imitates the scarcity of...
Two scenes from Atlas Shrugged Part 1 illustrate Ayn Rand’s principle that when people engage in voluntary trade, exchanging value for value, they are treating each other not “as masters or slaves, but as independent equals”—the highest form of human respect.
In a dramatic scene from Atlas Shrugged Part 2 , Hank Rearden tells a pragmatic young bureaucrat, “Try pouring a ton of steel without rigid principles.” His remark expresses Ayn Rand’s profound insight about the role of principles in human life, from science and technology to ethics and politics.
This scene, in which Dagny Taggart confronts her brother James about the need to upgrade a rail line, illustrates the difference between her rationality and his second-hand thinking. Dagny is focused on facts as she deals with the reality of a train wreck; James is focused on the opinions of other people.
In the famous “money speech,” Francisco d’Anconia responds to of the Biblical statement "money is the root of all evil" by explaining the real essence of money. Money is a medium of exchange, the means by which people trade value for value. And it represents the fact that wealth must be created by production.
Early in Atlas Shrugged Part 1 , Hank Rearden has two conversations that illustrate the conflict between makers and takers. Hank made his wealth by creating value in his business. His dependent brother Phillip is a taker, self-righteously asking for charity; as are the politicians and crony capitalists who seize wealth by force.
When Hank Rearden is put on trial for violating a government regulation imposed on his business, he invokes the principle that individuals are ends in themselves, with the moral right to pursue their own lives and well-being—including the right to run his by business by the judgment of his own mind and to keep the fruits of his labor.
When the “Equalization of Opportunity” bill forces Hank Rearden to sell off most of his companies, we see why property rights are essential human rights. Together with rights of contract, they allow everyone, including successful producers like Hank, to make rational, long-range plans.
Karl Marx’s principle "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" is not a moral ideal, as many people have believed. It is flagrantly unjust, a prescription for chaining the individual to the collective and forcing the sacrifice of all to all.
When Hank Rearden is put on trial for violating a government regulation imposed on his business, he invokes the principle that individuals are ends in themselves, with the moral right to pursue their own lives and well-being—including the right to run his by business by the judgment of his own mind and to keep the fruits of his labor.
A series of scenes from Part 1 illustrate Ayn Rand’s view of the unity of mind and body, the spiritual and the material, both in work and in love. That theme is illustrated by the contrast between the two women in Hank Rearden’s life: Dagny Taggart, his business partner who becomes his lover, and his wife Lillian.
Premier coal producer Ken Danagger explains to Dagny Taggart why he is quitting his business. The government has imposed onerous regulations on him, and is now threatening to imprison him for an honest business deal with Hank Rearden.
"Then I saw what was wrong with the world, I saw what destroyed men and nations, and where the battle for life had to be fought. I saw that
France recently passed a law penalize firms that close plants. As Agence France-Presse reported, The French parliament on Monday
It's easy to see Ladar Levison as a crusader forLadar Levison Lavabit Dark Mail Alliance Atlas Shrugged Business Rights Center...
Sometimes, someone stands up and fights—and last week, I had the privilege of being interviewed for a program featuring two people who are
In 2004, Ladar Levison founded a business to produce a product he believed in: private email . He encrypted messages before storing them..