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A review by midwifereading
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
4.0
Once again, I find myself annoyed that I didn't take notes while reading this ginormous tome, to keep my thoughts together in order to write a review. Not that a piece of classic literature needs a review.
Anyway, I thought I would just share my own personal take-aways from Atlas Shrugged. Here's what I liked about what it had to say:
-The "greater good" argument is total bunk. I've always thought it was, but Ayn Rand sums up why I think this. Doing things "for the greater good" always results from the willingness to sacrifice the few to the many. If your "greater good" requires sacrificial victims, then I am not on board. Ever.
-One should not be ashamed to have a profit motive. Just because someone is doing something to make money does not make them inherently greedy. Some of the most generous people are able to be so generous because they make a lot of money!!!
-Needs should never be mistaken for rights. Just because you need something does not mean you have a right to someone else's labor.
-Just because someone is driven by passion and a calling, does not mean that anyone else is entitled to the fruits of their success.
-Do not be ashamed of success. Get government out of the way to let producers actually make things.
-You are not obligated to rescue anyone whose failure has bankrupted them.
Here's what I didn't like:
-She makes God out to be the arbiter of "sacrifce is the highest virtue," as if that's a bad thing. I think what she doesn't understand is that God never commands us to demand sacrifice of others, but to instead be responsible for laying down our own lives. I get that she's trying to say that, if you are successful, do not let the world guilt you into giving away your success, just because they want it. But there is a time and a place for self-sacrifice.
-Happiness and pride are the highest forms of virtue.
-Her utopian view of the hidden valley is as unrealistic as any other utopia we can conceive of, because it presumes the basic moral goodness of its residents and producers.
My conclusion:
I am so glad I read this book. It's full of so much that validates my own views, but there are definitely several basic premises that I disagree with on a fundamental level. I can see myself reading this again. Even though it probably could have been told in half the pages.
Anyway, I thought I would just share my own personal take-aways from Atlas Shrugged. Here's what I liked about what it had to say:
-The "greater good" argument is total bunk. I've always thought it was, but Ayn Rand sums up why I think this. Doing things "for the greater good" always results from the willingness to sacrifice the few to the many. If your "greater good" requires sacrificial victims, then I am not on board. Ever.
-One should not be ashamed to have a profit motive. Just because someone is doing something to make money does not make them inherently greedy. Some of the most generous people are able to be so generous because they make a lot of money!!!
-Needs should never be mistaken for rights. Just because you need something does not mean you have a right to someone else's labor.
-Just because someone is driven by passion and a calling, does not mean that anyone else is entitled to the fruits of their success.
-Do not be ashamed of success. Get government out of the way to let producers actually make things.
-You are not obligated to rescue anyone whose failure has bankrupted them.
Here's what I didn't like:
-She makes God out to be the arbiter of "sacrifce is the highest virtue," as if that's a bad thing. I think what she doesn't understand is that God never commands us to demand sacrifice of others, but to instead be responsible for laying down our own lives. I get that she's trying to say that, if you are successful, do not let the world guilt you into giving away your success, just because they want it. But there is a time and a place for self-sacrifice.
-Happiness and pride are the highest forms of virtue.
-Her utopian view of the hidden valley is as unrealistic as any other utopia we can conceive of, because it presumes the basic moral goodness of its residents and producers.
My conclusion:
I am so glad I read this book. It's full of so much that validates my own views, but there are definitely several basic premises that I disagree with on a fundamental level. I can see myself reading this again. Even though it probably could have been told in half the pages.