[Publius]

In my view you're absolutely right. Rand has to set up a contrast between her "immovable movers" and the rest of society - that would be us poor fumblers - in her dramatic narrative.

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.

[Billthedrill]

I call it the quadri-metallic standard. Gold and silver for commerce, and lead and brass to protect them.

I'm stealing that for a tagline. ;-)

[whodathunkit]

They deserve a shot at Valhalla, or least a suburb of Valhalla

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.