Posted on 02/14/2009 11:27:03 AM PST by Publius
...but you're right...
In the book, the few people that remained in Starnesville, Wisconsin don't exactly fit what you've described, but IIRC, they were less than enthusiastic about Hank and Dagny offering them money for directions to the Twenty First Century Motor Company. They knew they were poor but didn't really seem to care anymore.
You're a Navy man, so I'll use Navy terms. As I pointed out in an earlier thread, for every great skipper there's an equally great exec. I've always thought that Eddie got a raw deal at the end, which I suppose is a half-spoiler. There are those who are not moochers and looters, who are not Creators, who are not faceless, anonymous people living lives of quiet desperation, but who are critical to the Creators not getting bogged down in minutiae. They deserve a shot at Valhalla, or least a suburb of Valhalla.
It will, in fact, survive Atlas shrugging very nicely both in fiction and in the real world.
I call it the quadri-metallic standard. Gold and silver for commerce, and lead and brass to protect them.
Ooops. sorry.
ok... I’m getting ahead of the narrative. I promise, that’s the last spoiler.
I'm stealing that for a tagline. ;-)
I’ve made a habit of reading “The Fountainhead” every 15-20 years (since age 16, I think). Only been able to do Atlas Shrugged twice. And yes, some of those speeches are heavy-lifting.
I’ll try to catch-up on this thread.
Dittoes on this comment. I’m just catching up, Publius, but you’re doing a fantastic job of summarizing some pretty dense material.
Ahhh..... I now see why she portrayed the poor as helpless in the face of adversity.
The either-or nature of AS didn't sit well with me due to my own expectations. I can see that contrasting the extremes helps the reader to make judgments that otherwise might be difficult if the focus is too narrow.
It reminds me of the 'exaggeration game' that I play with my kids. It's a whole lot of fun and the kids find out what ignoring reality can lead to :)
SuperLuminal posts - “The time is nearly here to simply “take” back acccess to our unalienable rights and re-institute the original Constitutional Republic. Let the marxist Tories once again populate another country. This one is ours.”
Here! Here!
Back To The Top!
Tatt
I agree. I think this falls into the either-or conundrum. All the characters in AS are either winners or losers. There seems to be no 'in between'.
I call it the quadri-metallic standard. Gold and silver for commerce, and lead and brass to protect them
Great line! That's a keeper.
I've spent the past half-hour reading and re-reading that sentence, and I've come to realize that there is a universe of truth, both open and hidden, in that sentence.
People can be poor in material resources or poor in spirit. Some are only poor in one, and some in both. Those who are poor in material resources but rich in spirit will do well. But those poor in both areas will end up like the folks of Starnesville, simply not giving a damn.
The most damaging thing you can ever do to any one is convince them that they are a victim.
Victims have no power, no ability to better themselves.
They are eternally waiting for a handout.
Thank you FDR and Johnson’s great society.
We saw it demonstrated in vivid color during Katrina.
I’d have packed a back pack, hitched my 2 dogs to their leashes and my family and I would have walked out.
During the great depression people were more self sufficient. And if you had a plot of land you could always feed yourself from the garden or from hunting.
Today if it wasn’t for McD’s the victim folks would starve.
Well put.
JJ
Kids would detract from the story...She is very deliberately addressing adult issues ..
Kids are an affirmation of life and a symbol of the future.
She is making the point even if in deliberately that the falling system has no future.
And Gresham's Law applies to victims, too. Bad victims chase good victims out of the system. That's where we are today.
College these days is the gold standard and it shouldn't be.
Remedial reading in college has been the standard since the 70’s.
My grandfather was one of the most accomplished man I've ever met with a 4th grade education.. He taught himself algebra and watch making. He was a big Dem but he hobnobbed with governors and senators.
In those days graduating from high school was the exception not the norm.. in the 40’s there were still medical schools and law schools that existed outside college.
The industrial base still persisted, most people worked in factories or in skilled trades..Young men apprenticed in a trade to learn the construction arts instead of spending time uselessly in high school.
It’s the teach a man to fish idea.
Teach a man to fish, and he'll spend the whole damn day fishing.
And drinking beer.
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