“One of my principal criticisms of Atlas Shrugged in general is that the act of Atlas shrugging holds an inherent callousness to the welfare of those less-than-godlike inhabitants . . .
There will be more of this later, quite a bit of it, where Rand attempts to address the question “are there, then, no innocent victims?” It is to me one of the central moral questions in AS, pertinent to current events as well.”
Excellent comments.
See, I don’t think the issue is “innocent victims”. Those that would be victims of “shrugging” are already victims of the current system. It goes to the fundamental “moral argument” of the left - that the LEFT has the best interests of everybody at heart when, in fact, the free market provides the best opportunity to the most people.
More to the point, however “innocent” some victims might be, it is not “shrugging” that made them victims in the first place. The left created these “human shields” and ultimately, are morally responsible for the outcome.
It should matter little how intellectual and/or “superhuman” you are in a system of liberty. Hard work is an equal measure of a free man. It only matters when people aren’t free. There is the genesis of “victim-hood”.
I tend that it is less callous to the average “victim” to let the gov’t that institutes such victim-hood fall. That’s the point.
Or, I guess you could say, who’s zooming whom?
~faith.
I read AS for the first time last year. It was wonderful and tedious, at the same time. Slightly masochistic, even. Rand would be proud.
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.