Atlas Shrugged Laws

«Did you really think we wanted these laws to be followed?» said Dr. Ferris. «We want them to be broken. You`d better make it clear that this isn`t a group of scouts you`re dealing with – so you`ll know it`s not the age for beautiful gestures. We seek power and we think so. You were Piker, but we know the real thing, and you`d better be smart. There is no way to rule innocent men. The only power of a government is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, if there aren`t enough criminals, you do them. You declare so many things as a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking the law. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What`s in there for someone? But just pass the kind of laws that can`t be observed, enforced, or interpreted objectively — and you create a nation of offenders — and then you take advantage of feelings of guilt. Well, that`s the system, Rearden-san, that`s the game, and once you figure it out, you`ll be able to manage it a lot more easily.

A group of men from Washington, including James Taggart, Orren Boyle, Wesley Mouch, Dr. Floyd Ferris and Mr. Thompson (the head of state), are meeting to discuss the impact of a proposed set of laws that would limit economic change. Although the group was concerned about the public`s reaction, it decided to enact the laws known as Directive 10-289. The objective of Directive 10-289 is to halt the country`s economic decline by freezing the economy in its current state. The directive prohibits workers from leaving their current jobs and prevents businessmen from closing their doors. It prohibits the introduction of inventions or new products and obliges companies to produce an annual quantity of goods identical to the quantity produced in the previous year. All wages, prices, profits and dividends are frozen, and each individual is forced to spend as much as the previous year. The Directive also establishes an Association Committee to hear all disagreements related to the new laws.

The decisions of the Unification Committee on all matters arising shall be final. The book depicts a dystopian UK in which private companies suffer from increasingly burdensome laws and regulations. Railway director Dagny Taggart and his lover, steel magnate Hank Rearden, fight against «looters» who want to exploit their productivity. Dagny and Hank discover that a mysterious character named John Galt convinces other business leaders to abandon their businesses and disappear as a strike of prolific individuals against looters. The novel ends with the strikers planning to build a new capitalist society based on Galt`s philosophy. The novel is divided into three parts, each consisting of ten chapters. Each part is named in honor of one of Aristotle`s laws of logic: «non-contradiction» according to the law of non-contradiction; «Either-or», which is a reference to the law of the excluded centre; and «A is A» in relation to the law of identity. [46] Each chapter also has a title; Atlas Shrugged is the only one of Rand`s novels to use chapter titles. [47] This page summarizes some important things about the novel – from symbols and laws to songs and legends. «There is no way to rule innocent men.

The only power of a government is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, if there aren`t enough criminals, you do them. You declare so many things as a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking the law. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What`s in there for someone? But just pass the kind of laws that can`t be observed, enforced, or interpreted objectively — and you create a nation of offenders — and then you take advantage of feelings of guilt. «However, there is nothing for the legal code. This is a convoluted mass of declarative assertions, nested dependencies, GOTO statements, (naïve) version control, and namespaces. A vigilante to change one part of the code essentially has unpredictable consequences for other parts of the code. In the years immediately following the novel`s publication, many American conservatives, such as William F. Buckley, Jr., were strongly disapproved by Rand and his objectivist message. [93] In addition to Whittaker Chambers` highly critical examination, Buckley requested a number of critical articles: Russell Kirk called objectivism an «inverted religion,»[93] Frank Meyer accused Rand of «calculated cruelty» and his message, a «dry subhuman image of man,»[93] and Garry Wills considered Rand a «fanatic.» [93] References to Atlas Shrugged have appeared in a variety of other popular entertainment films. In the first season of the drama series Mad Men, Bert Cooper urges Don Draper to read the book, and Don`s sales tactics to a customer suggest that he was influenced by the strike.

[103] Less positive mentions of the novel can be found in episodes of the animated comedies Futurama, where it appears in the library of books washed down the sewers to be read only by grotesque mutants, and South Park, where a newly trained character gives up reading after experiencing Atlas Shrugged. [104] The critically acclaimed 2007 BioShock video game is widely seen as a response to Atlas Shrugged. W. Bradford said Raimondo made an unconvincing comparison based on a coincidence of common names and literary means. [34] Rand`s former business partner and lover, Nathaniel Branden, expressed different views on Atlas Shrugged. He was very positive about it at first, and even after he and Rand ended their relationship, he always called it «the greatest novel ever written» in an interview, although he «found a few things to discuss in the book.» [88] In 1984, however, he argued that Atlas Shrugged «promotes emotional oppression and self-denial» and that Rand`s works contained conflicting messages. He criticized the novel`s potential psychological impact, explaining that Galt`s recommendation to respond to misconduct with «contempt and moral condemnation» conflicts with the psychologists` view that says it only repeats the misconduct. [89] Rand`s biographer, Anne Heller, pursues some ideas that, in Atlas Shrugged, would go back to an ever-written novel that Rand described as a student at Petrograd State University. The futuristic story was that of an American heiress who attracted the most talented men from a predominantly communist Europe. The heiress would have had an assistant named Eddie Willers, named after Dagny`s assistant in Atlas Shrugged. [21] Rand began the first draft of the novel on September 2, 1946.

[12] She initially thought it was easy to write and finished quickly, but as she reflected on the complexity of the philosophical questions she wanted to address, she realized it would take longer. [13] After Rand completed a contract to write screenplays for Hal Wallis and fulfilled her obligations for the film adaptation of The Fountainhead, she worked full-time on the novel, which she tentatively called The Strike.