So...What is Atlas Shrugged?
*** SPOILER ALERT: If you have not yet read the book, you may want to skip this post. ***
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When asked "What is Atlas Shrugged?", how do you typically respond? An epic novel by Ayn Rand? A story of a dystopian society where the best among us are disappearing? The greatest book ever written?
We're looking for the clearest, most concise, and most compelling answers to help promote the message of Atlas and the film.
So Gulch... what exactly is Atlas Shrugged? Submit a comment on this post with your answer or vote on the answer you think is best. The best answers just might be used on upcoming ASP3 promotional materials and, if your answer is used, you’ll get a special thanks in the credits of the film “Atlas Shrugged: Who is John Galt?”
This is your chance to not only help spread the word about Ayn Rand and what Atlas Shrugged symbolizes but also... to forever be a part of Atlas Shrugged history.
How long should your answer be? No longer than 15 seconds to say/read. Think of it as an “elevator pitch.” Submit as many answers as you like but please submit them as individual comments.
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NOTE: By submitting a comment on this page you agree to the site's terms and conditions and give Atlas Productions, and all of its affiliates, permission to use your submission in any and all promotional material. Read terms and conditions here: http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/terms
- - - - -
When asked "What is Atlas Shrugged?", how do you typically respond? An epic novel by Ayn Rand? A story of a dystopian society where the best among us are disappearing? The greatest book ever written?
We're looking for the clearest, most concise, and most compelling answers to help promote the message of Atlas and the film.
So Gulch... what exactly is Atlas Shrugged? Submit a comment on this post with your answer or vote on the answer you think is best. The best answers just might be used on upcoming ASP3 promotional materials and, if your answer is used, you’ll get a special thanks in the credits of the film “Atlas Shrugged: Who is John Galt?”
This is your chance to not only help spread the word about Ayn Rand and what Atlas Shrugged symbolizes but also... to forever be a part of Atlas Shrugged history.
How long should your answer be? No longer than 15 seconds to say/read. Think of it as an “elevator pitch.” Submit as many answers as you like but please submit them as individual comments.
- - - - -
NOTE: By submitting a comment on this page you agree to the site's terms and conditions and give Atlas Productions, and all of its affiliates, permission to use your submission in any and all promotional material. Read terms and conditions here: http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/terms
Previous comments...
This will probably be the most important book (to you) that you read in your lifetime.
What is it about? It is often described as "Capitalism versus Communism", or "altruism vs selfishness"--but both descriptions seriously miss the point. What this book is really about is much more fundamental. It is about the nature of good and evil, and beyond that, the very meaning of life.
"But I'm a good person, so what value is this book to me?"--you may ask. Answer: You have certainly noticed that adult "morality" is full of all kinds of exceptions and contradictions. The truth is, the world of "morality" we adults have constructed is a sham, a fraud. It is no more than "social convention"--which is to say, "what most-of-us more-or-less agree to"--and actually, despite all the "moral" justification, has absolutely nothing to do with morality or right-and-wrong, and often little to do with common sense.
Still, the question remains, "Why isn't simply accepting the current 'social norms' good enough?" "Go along to get along." Answer: To put it bluntly, the greatest evil the world has ever seen has been done by folks "accepting community norms" who thought they were doing good, or at least who could justify their actions as being "socially acceptable".
The truth is, you will be quite surprised when you learn the true nature of evil. Until you have read Atlas Shrugged, evil will remain a hazy mist floating just off your line of vision, which you don't look straight at, because you don't WANT it to exist. After reading Atlas Shrugged, evil snaps into sharp focus--and like a bully confronted--ceases to be a fear, and just becomes something distasteful to avoid.
As Rand richly illustrates: Just as eating too much fat can clog up your arteries, thinking "too much fat" can damage with your mental health. Some mental illness is physiological. But most mental illness is caused by unresolved internal contradictions. Reality is all there is. You do NOT have the option of living in your own private version of reality. Nevertheless, many, perhaps most, people live lives built on thier own complex lies. That turns smart people crazy, and stupid people mean and crazy.
How do you avoid "unresolved internal contradictions"? By knowing the difference between right and wrong, and never, ever, allowing a rotten board to be used in the construction of your mental house. The problem is the old "slippery slope". Lie to yourself just once, no matter how trivial the lie, and the next one will be easier. Before long, you realize that you can justify ANYTHING--and with the blessings of the popular culture. And before you know it, you've lost your soul.
As Rand preaches, the meaning of life is integrity. Living without compromise. To live a life filled with joy and pride in yourself, made possible by being free of mental conflicts. To know, not merely hope, that your mistakes were honest mistakes. To live with the knowledge that you are the best you can be, while striving to be better. To be a joy and comfort to the people you love. To give generously of your time, wealth, and love simply for the joy of doing so. To be a person who has changed the world for the better when you have gone. That's what Atlas Shrugged is really all about. All ofthe other themes, even Communism vs Capitalism are peripheral supporting themes. It is precisely because the fundamental issues are so basic and primary, that the implications are simultaneously universal--applying to all aspects of life.
I usually respond:
"Today's history," or "Current non-fiction," or"The ultimate engagement of good over evil."
(There’s an implication that this destruction opens a social ecological niche for reconstructing society in a fashion that more nearly excludes the parasitic elements and is rationally stronger, but this is not what the book is about.)
Jan
Ayn Rand's Magnus opus, 'Atlas Shrugged' (published in 1957) depicts the struggle of the Productive Individual against those who steal their creative endeavors. One Man refusing to be his brother's keeper, swears an oath: "I will stop the motor of the world".