‘ATLAS SHRUGGED’: The Dire Message In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged
By MB Snow at October 18, 2012 | 1:10 pm | Print
After thoroughly researching the history of capitalism, Rand concluded that it was the economic freedom that created the progress made in recent history. Most major inventions were created by individuals who were undeterred by government interference and regulations.
By Alicia Colon –
Next to my computer is a bookshelf overstuffed with books I’ve read and enjoyed but one book stands out because I just can’t get past its first 25 pages. Friends have told me how much they enjoyed ‘Atlas Shrugged’ so I have tried on numerous occasions to tackle this tome that has had such a lasting impact on libertarians and VP candidate Rep. Paul Ryan. Alas, all efforts have failed so I resorted to my college year’s backup plan – I bought an ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Cliff Notes.
I can’t comment on Ms. Rand’s talent for writing but I found the Cliff Notes version written by Dr. Andrew Bernstein infinitely more readable. For the first time I understand how omniscient and how pertinent Ms. Rand’s novel is to what is happening to our country today.
Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905 and saw firsthand the communist revolution and takeover of her native country and the subsequent oppression that swallowed it up. Her family escaped to the United States but she kept up with her relatives left behind in Russia until Joseph Stalin’s murderous policies made her lose track.
The Twentieth Century had spawned the worst dictatorships in history. Rand witnessed the results to individual freedom in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Communist Russia, China, Cuba and around the world. Dr. Bernstein describes the state of the world that led to her signature novel: “For years, the specter of national socialism had haunted the world, exterminating millions of innocent people, enslaving millions more, and threatening the freedom of the entire globe. The triumph of the free countries of the West over Naziism was achieved at an enormous cost in Human Life. However, it left the threat of communism unabated.”
via Irish Examiner USA: The Dire Message In Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
