The first time I read Atlas Shrugged, I almost thought I was reading a news report about current events. From that moment, continuing on long after I discovered Galt's Gulch, I have put forth the speculation that the modern dem/prog/lib movement has at least some of its roots in A.S. It almost seems like they're using it as their playbook, but in all of their elite arrogance they think they can produce a different outcome.

Liz Peek of foxnews.com presented one of many takes on last night's Dem debate, and one of the quotes from her comments really drove the point home for me:

'Few Democrats talk about growing the country’s wealth and income; rather, their focus is on how to carve up the wealth and income we already have. As de Blasio has so frequently said, “There’s plenty of money in the country, it’s just in the wrong hands.” '

As I read that, all I could hear is the part of Francisco D'Anconia's speech at James Taggart's wedding where he says this:

“If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose–because it contains all the others–the fact that they were the people who created the phrase ‘to make money.’

For me, Atlas Shrugged was a life-changing event. I could have been one of the people John Galt was talking to at the end of his speech, one of those who knows something is wrong but can't quite quantify it sufficiently. A.S. did for me what he hoped his speech would do for them.