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FReeper Book Club: Atlas Shrugged, The Climax of the d'Anconias
A Publius Essay | 14 February 2009 | Publius

Posted on 02/14/2009 11:27:03 AM PST by Publius

Part I: Non-Contradiction

Chapter V: The Climax of the d’Anconias

Synopsis

Eddie hands a newspaper to Dagny; it has a most interesting story. The People’s State of Mexico, upon inspecting the expropriated San Sebastian Mines, discovers that they are devoid of copper and utterly worthless. Dagny asks Eddie to call Francisco at the Wayne-Falkland Hotel for an appointment.

What follows is an extended flashback into the childhood of Dagny, Eddie, Francisco and Jim at the Taggart estate on the Hudson.

Francisco got a job at Taggart Transcontinental before Dagny, working illicitly as a call boy at a station on the Hudson Line. Each intended to eventually run the family business. Unlike those d’Anconias who increased the family holdings by a mere 10%, Francisco’s goal was to double them.

Francisco went to Patrick Henry University of Cleveland, the most distinguished institution of learning left in the world, but Francisco did not find all the courses interesting. He made only two close friends at college. (A major plot point for later!)

One incident shaped the relationship between Dagny and Francisco. When Dagny suggested that she get poor grades in order to be popular, Francisco slapped her – and she liked it.

Dagny began the competition with Francisco by taking a job as night operator on the railroad at a nearby station while only sixteen. She went through life without male admirers, and her idea of a good time was working on the railroad. After a formal ball, she noted that she could have squashed ten of the men she had met. It was in her freshman year at college that Dagny and Francisco became lovers.

Francisco not only went to college, but by playing the stock market he amassed enough money to buy the copper foundry where he had been working secretly at night. Following college, Francisco worked for his father. One night, meeting Dagny in New York, he said, “There’s something wrong with the world.” A few years later he told Dagny not to be astonished by anything he did in the future and asked her to leave the railroad and let it go to hell under Jim’s stewardship. He warned her that the next time they met, she wouldn’t want to see him. Over the years Francisco morphed into a worthless playboy squandering the d’Anconia fortune.

Returning to the present, Dagny goes to Francisco’s room at the hotel and finds him playing with marbles on the floor like a child. Dagny has figured out part of what Francisco intended with the San Sebastian Mines swindle. He has hurt the looters’ government of Mexico and his American investors, but Dagny can’t penetrate to the heart of what he has done.

Dagny administers a shock to Francisco when she brings up the Fifth Concerto of Richard Halley. Francisco avoids a direct answer and says that Halley has stopped composing.

Francisco lays out the reaction of the Mexican government, which had made promises to its people to be delivered by the confiscation of the mines. Now the government has to blame the greedy capitalists. The miners’ town he built was made of shoddy material and will be gone within a year. He has cost the railroad and his investors millions. Taggart Transcontinental will fail, and Ellis Wyatt will be the next to go under. He tells Dagny as she is leaving that she is not ready to hear the reasons behind what he is doing.

The Purpose of This Chapter

We’ve met Dagny, Hank and their enemies. We’ve heard about Francisco, but we’ve never met him. Now we find out about the long history of Dagny and Francisco, both in business and on a personal basis. We also find that Francisco is involved in some kind of project aimed at destroying certain people, companies and countries, but we don’t know why. (This is the book’s plot.)

Landmarks

The Wayne-Falkland Hotel is based upon the real life Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

The Taggart estate is based upon one of many Vanderbilt holdings, all of which were built by the descendants of Cornelius Vanderbilt of the New York Central. “Commodore” Vanderbilt himself lived modestly in lower Manhattan. Both Vanderbilt and James Jerome Hill were models for Nat Taggart.

Ayn Rand and Sex

There are no children in this book; the plot is about adults and adult matters. It is only in this chapter that we meet our characters as teenagers and we find Francisco and Dagny as lovers.

Francisco’s slapping Dagny after that comment about doing poorly in school to gain popularity requires some history about the period. In that era popularity was considered more important than academic excellence. Smart people weren’t popular, which is why young Ronald Reagan hid his questing mind in the disguise of a backslapping athlete. Even as an adult, Reagan hid his cerebral qualities from others, which is why he was characterized incorrectly by Clark Clifford as an “amiable dunce”. Understanding this in its historical context, Dagny’s comment to Francisco was not totally out of bounds.

However, when she is slapped, Dagny finds that she likes it. There is an undercurrent of precocious sexuality and sadomasochism in that slap. When she and Francisco lose their virginity together, the prose turns purple.

“She knew that fear was useless, that he would do what he wished, that the decision was his, that he left nothing possible to her except the thing she wanted most – to submit. She had no conscious realization of his purpose, her vague knowledge of it was wiped out, she had no power to believe it clearly, in this moment, to believe it about herself, she knew only that she was afraid – yet what she felt was as if she were crying to him: Don’t ask me for it – oh, don’t ask me – do it!”

This is Rand’s updated version of the “aching need” that appears in The Fountainhead. People who are devoutly religious become queasy at this passage and again when Rand waxes philosophical.

”’Isn’t it wonderful that our bodies can give us so much pleasure?’, he said to her once, quite simply. They were happy and radiantly innocent. They were both incapable of the conception that joy is sin ... She knew the general doctrine on sex, held by people in one form or another, the doctrine that sex was an ugly weakness of man’s lower nature, to be condoned regretfully. She experienced an emotion of chastity that made her shrink, not from the desires of her body, but from any contact with the minds who held this doctrine.”

Rand here disposes of the puritanical branch of Judeo-Christianity in a few well honed sentences. She not only supports the Dagny-Francisco relationship but condemns those who would criticize it in the name of a narrow, outmoded morality. Exceptional people – the Creators – make their own rules, which may well be a tip of the hat to Nietzsche.

But Dagny has had no other partners this far into the story, and it appears that Francisco has not either. Both remain true to each other, defining their own concept of chastity. This elevates sexuality into something sacred and transcendent, which is another theme of the book.

Patrick Henry University

Don’t confuse this fictional school with the very real Patrick Henry College of Purcellville, VA.

One of the most enjoyable Marx Brothers movies was “Horse Feathers”, a 1932 musical comedy that revolves around the football rivalry between Darwin and Huxley colleges. The opening number has Groucho and a chorus of professors singing:

I don't know what they have to say
It makes no difference anyway;
Whatever it is, I'm against it!

Colleges of the Twenties were profoundly conservative institutions, hard as that may be to believe today. The concept of academic freedom was by no means guaranteed, be the professor tenured or not. The Great Depression was to change all that, and soon the economic theories of Karl Marx began to replace those of Groucho Marx. The great institutions of the Ivy League led the way.

It would appear that even during the Forties and Fifties, Rand held a low enough opinion of the Ivy League to locate her ideal university in Cleveland, an industrial city not known as a great seat of learning. In fact, the business of Cleveland was manufacturing.

Naming a university dedicated to reason to Patrick Henry, however, is just as problematic as naming a fundamentalist Christian college after the same man, which is what happened in Purcellville. Henry does not fit the stereotype of either a man of objective reason or of religious faith. His life and legacy are far more complicated.

Patrick Henry belongs to the same group as Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams, revolutionaries who lit the flame that George Washington kept from being extinguished. Like Adams, Henry had failed in business many times, but while Adams became a wizard at the art of political propaganda, Henry turned instead to the law. As a lawyer, Henry stood for home rule and economic self-determination, siding with the ancient British tradition of being taxed by one’s own legislators. He further argued that colonial legislatures could not assign that right to Parliament. Because Parliament had long exercised a general right to tax the colonies, Henry’s assertion was considered treasonous.

In addition to the above principles, Henry’s intellectual justification for separation from Britain revolved around corruption. There is a tendency to look at that period of American history and see a halcyon era when corruption didn’t exist. In fact, the colonial governments of early America were every bit as corrupt as some state governments today. Wherever there is a pipeline of government “cheese”, there are mice and rats attempting to divert some of that “cheese“ into their private larders. For Henry, gold and silver were too important to be diverted into the mouths of grifters, looters and moochers, which is why he became the scourge of corruption in Virginia politics. He could personally fight corruption in Williamsburg, but the corruption in London was so entrenched it could only be fought by separation. Rand must have viewed Henry as an early American model.

Following the Revolution, Henry opposed the adoption of the Constitution, arguing that it gave the federal government too much power, and his opposition led to the Bill of Rights. Yet a decade later, he executed a complete turnaround and switched to the Federalist Party, backing Washington, Adams and John Marshall, and going so far as to argue that the Jefferson-Madison Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, supporting a state’s right of nullification, would lead to civil war. He died the same year as George Washington.

Some Discussion Topics

  1. The philosophical conversations among Dagny, Francisco and Jim at the Taggart estate reveal much about their characters and hold a lot of material for discussion. Francisco: ”So I want to be prepared to claim the greatest virtue of all – that I was a man who made money.” Jim: “Virtue is the price of admission.” Then there is Jim’s lecture to Francisco about selfish greed and social responsibilities. Dagny: ”Francisco, what’s the most depraved type of human being?” Francisco: “The man without a purpose.” Francisco: “The code of competence is the only system of morality that’s on a gold standard.” These snippets are better at conveying information than the long set pieces to come. Discuss the differences between these people and how the differences determine their characters.
  2. There have only been two couples engaging actively in sex in the book so far: Dagny Taggart with Francisco d’Anconia, and James Taggart with Betty Pope. Compare and contrast.
  3. ”The government of the People’s State of Mexico has issued a proclamation ... asking the people to be patient and put up with hardships just a little longer ... Now the planners are asking their people not to blame the government, but to blame the depravity of the rich...” Are there already echoes of this in today’s headlines?
  4. ”Who is John Galt?” It would be a spoiler to explore the rich irony of that question coming from Francisco. But based on what we know at this point, why is it a surprise to hear it from Francisco? How does it differ from everyone else who has said it?

Next Saturday: The Non-Commercial


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Free Republic; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: freeperbookclub
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To: ziravan

My husband believes this is a center-right country, as well. He thinks that in 2 years, Congress will have another 1994, and that Obama will be forced to the right like Clinton was.

I am not so optimistic. As long as the people screaming “Give me pie!” are 50.1% to the pie-makers of 49.9%, we are stuck. I honestly don’t believe that PA will throw Specter out, because the “Give me pie!” people in Philly will always outnumber the God’s Country people of Potter County.


161 posted on 02/15/2009 9:22:13 AM PST by Explorer89 (Could you direct me to the Coachella Valley, and the carrot festival, therein?)
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To: tndarlin

I’m reading it for the first time too. I’m almost done. Part of me can’t put it down, and part wants to make it last because I’m enjoying it so much. I love being able to talk about it with like-minded people, though.

I’m debating whether to get an Atlas-related bumper sticker or tee-shirt from http://www.johngaltgifts.com/ It might make for an interesting conversation-starter.


162 posted on 02/15/2009 9:41:59 AM PST by Savagemom (Educational Maverick (at least while homeschooling is still legal))
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To: ziravan

Money may trump ideology, but money eventually runs out.


163 posted on 02/15/2009 11:19:42 AM PST by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (Nothing attracts federal investment like repeated failure)
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To: ziravan

I am doing all I can to minimize the taxes I pay to the looters. Cleaning out the closets and donating to worthy charities. Not exactly shrugging, but more like cutting off the blood flow to the tumor.


164 posted on 02/15/2009 11:21:57 AM PST by MtnClimber (The "stimulous" will place tax payers into slavery as sheep to be fleeced by government parasites.)
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To: Taxman
When the communist regimes in the east fell.. They were in total collapse.

Certainly they were in turmoil for a time but look at Poland, The Check Republic..far more free and far more capitalistic.

Total repudiation is what is needed.

165 posted on 02/15/2009 12:37:15 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: ziravan
Good points.

Children are born competitive..Left to their own devices they will try to best one another if it is only in a foot race.

Children naturally want to achieve..that's why they climb, jump and run.

The victim mentality has to be taught and cultivated, they have to have their own quest for excellence crushed out of them.

The left has left only sports and only certain ones as suitable material for competition..basketball, foot ball and the latest multiculturally correct soccer.

166 posted on 02/15/2009 12:43:59 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: ziravan
The left....despite what they claim they believe are actually elitists..

Witness the recent automatic assumption that Caroline Kennedy should be anointed to being Senator of NY.

Many of them would be perfectly content being in the court of Louis VIX.

They have the right of enlightenment and status to rule over the rest of us.

Their real goal isn't equality but feudalism.

167 posted on 02/15/2009 12:47:13 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: CottonBall

Rush has enough money to buy NZ and ship all the inhabitants to Australia.

I talked to my husband about this very subject.. given unlimited funds he says Brazil.


168 posted on 02/15/2009 12:49:53 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: ziravan
The left is very clever as all swindlers are.

They first captured the press and then the modes of education.

They captured education first in the universities and then by totally infiltrating schools of education so that they could get to kids from the beginning.

They control the message that people hear and they control the means whereby people rather than learning to think become indoctrinated..

It's the main reason the Nea howls about home schooling is the ones that learn to think on their own are very dangerous.

169 posted on 02/15/2009 12:57:32 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: Savagemom
The “economic crisis” that happened right before the election certainly seemed to have been caused by the irresponsibility and entitlement of the poor, who took out mortgages they couldn't pay, and the government, who forced the banks to give those loans and promised to back them up.

And I will be exploring that in an essay when we reach the chapter where we meet Lee Hunsacker. I'll be tying Hunsacker to Dennis Kucinich and others as we explore what the courts did to Michael "Midas" Mulligan.

170 posted on 02/15/2009 1:04:30 PM PST by Publius (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: Explorer89

Pennsylvania is culturally conservative for a northeastern state. One wag described Pennsylvania as “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh at each end and Alabama in between.”


171 posted on 02/15/2009 1:07:45 PM PST by Publius (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: Explorer89

Potter County? You’re from Coudersport?


172 posted on 02/15/2009 1:13:25 PM PST by Publius (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: TASMANIANRED

AGREED!


173 posted on 02/15/2009 1:16:56 PM PST by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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To: Taxman
We were warned, and we failed to heed the warnings.

Maybe, just maybe, if we get off our dead asses and do something, we can derail the LIEberal/Socialist/Marxist FReight train.

It seems it all happened just like in AS. What HAVE the rest of us been doing since FDR? We've been raising families and building businesses. We've been dragging our asses our of bed at 0-dark-thirty for decades to create a good life for ourselves and our children. We've not asked for anything we could not accomplish for ourselves through hard work and creative thought and perseverance.

What has the other side been doing all this time? Since hard work isn't in their vocabulary, they've had much more time on their hands. Idle hands are the devil's playground?

Rearden, Hammond, Dr Akston, Wyatt, Danagger...they kept working and working, not understanding what was upon them until it was too late. I would argue that our asses have not been dead, we've just been blind, not understanding the true evil in this world.

174 posted on 02/15/2009 1:18:38 PM PST by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))
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To: Explorer89

We’d best help the people of PA throw Snarlin’ out — and while we are at it, help the people of Maine change their Senate diapers!


175 posted on 02/15/2009 1:20:27 PM PST by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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To: Taxman

We be soulmates.


176 posted on 02/15/2009 1:30:37 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: Savagemom
Part of me can’t put it down, and part wants to make it last because I’m enjoying it so much

I am feeling the same way. I look forward to Saturday's to read the insightful posts and learn new things along the way.

177 posted on 02/15/2009 1:32:15 PM PST by tndarlin
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To: Publius

No, I’m from outside of Pgh. Just referencing where everyone went to go hunting :)


178 posted on 02/15/2009 1:40:05 PM PST by Explorer89 (Could you direct me to the Coachella Valley, and the carrot festival, therein?)
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To: Explorer89
I recall that Potter County is the bear hunting capital of Pennsylvania. My late uncle, a 32nd Degree Mason and Past Grand Master of the big temple in Philadelphia, used to go deer and/or bear hunting every year out that way with his cronies up until the day he died at the age of 86.

I once watched him shoot and skin a woodchuck. That was educational.

179 posted on 02/15/2009 1:50:12 PM PST by Publius (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: TASMANIANRED

Roger that!


180 posted on 02/15/2009 1:56:51 PM PST by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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