Atlas Shrugged, Part 3 Chapter 9: The Generator

Posted by nsnelson 8 years, 5 months ago to Books
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Summary: Dr. Stadler fled Galt and went to the Thompson Harmonizer in Iowa. He tried to take control, but the weapon ended up destroying him and the Taggart Bridge. The politicians reconvene to plot about John Galt. Dagny joins the strike (finally!). Ferris, Mouch, and Taggart torture Galt.

Start by reading the first-tier comments, which are all quotes of Ayn Rand (some of my favorites, some just important for other reasons). Comment on your favorite ones, or others' comments. Don't see your favorite quote? Post it in a new comment. Please reserve new comments for Ayn Rand, and your non-Rand quotes for "replies" to the quotes or discussion. (Otherwise Rand's quotes will get crowded out and pushed down into oblivion. You can help avoid this by "voting up" the Rand quotes, or at least the ones you especially like, and voting down first-tier comments that are not quotes of the featured book.)

Atlas Shrugged was written by Ayn Rand in 1957.

My idea for this post is discussed here:

http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...


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  • Posted by 8 years, 5 months ago
    Taggart, thinking: “He was suddenly seeing the motive that had directed all the actions of his life. It was not his incommunicable soul or his love for others or his social duty or any of the fraudulent sounds by which he had maintained his self-esteem: it was the lust to destroy whatever was living, for the sake of whatever was not.”
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  • Posted by 8 years, 5 months ago
    Ferris to Mouch: “No! It’s not enough! I don’t want him to obey! I want him to believe! To accept! To want to accept! We’ve got to have him work for us voluntarily!”
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    • Posted by handyman 8 years, 5 months ago
      Upon seeing this quote, I got to wondering about real-world instances where gov't says it is looking for voluntary compliance, but where compulsion is really the policy in affect. Perhaps the most onerous, yet thinly disguised, example is the notion that participating the paying income taxes is voluntary.

      A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a Todd Starnes opinion piece about a soldier who was being prosecuted for expressing his political opinions. The Army is quoted as saying, "You should strive to express your opinion while being aware of the overall ramifications of your statements." In other words, you can have free speech as long as there aren't any ramifications that offend someone. Genuine double speak! You can see the article here: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/...

      Does anyone have other real-world examples of "voluntary/compulsory" double speak?
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years, 5 months ago
      "We’ve got to have him work for us voluntarily!”"
      What was this about? What did Ferris can about Galt's motivations?
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      • Posted by 8 years, 5 months ago
        Probably a combination of factors. The most imminent reason was probably practical. Galt said he would obey orders: "I'll obey you." In other words, You want me to work for your? Tell me what to do. You want me to invent something? Tell me how. You want me to use my mind? Tell me what to think, and, at the point of a gun, I'll obey.

        That would be tedious and inefficient. Even Ferris must have seen that coercion was not practical. He had to find ways to make Galt want to do what he does best.

        Another reason may have been a type of guilt. Partially because as human beings, deep down he knows what he is doing to people is wrong. Partially because he does not want to be made to see the ugly reality of what he is doing.
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  • Posted by 8 years, 5 months ago
    Dagny to d’Anconia: “I swear – by my life and my love of it – that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
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