Stopping the Motor of the World
The premise of the book is fascinating: a strike lead by the industrialists
This is just one of a number of reversed social paradigms that feeds into the philosophy of authro Ayn Rand. The philosophy of Objectivism and its egocentric tenents seemingly goes against everything we were indoctrinated to believe in from the beginning. Fairy tales and children’s stories teach us to look out for the common good. Masked heroes such as Robin Hood swing through our imaginations, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Jesus and Muhommad decreed that their followers should tithe to those less fortunate. And Ayn Rand has the gall to step forward and sweep it all away with a 1000 page manifesto extolling the merits of self-centered actions and the personal persuit of happiness.
The book took on a personal meaning considering the current living situation and location. I have witnessed first-hand the destructive tales of the great equalization methods involved in this book and have come to curse them almost as strongly as Ms. Rand does. One point that has been resonating in my head for at least a year now, upon which Ayn Rand clearly pontificates is the sense of mediocrity that socialism achieves and actually strives for. It is a fail-safe for the people, where no real chances are taken and no real loses are recorded; a system of supreme protection for the members of the state. This apprehensive attitude is more prevelant in the European system but is glaringly disruptive in the former East Germany. The daring sense of capitalistic investment is one of the main stumbling blocks to the rocky transition of systems and its embracement by the people. In Dresden, I lived in a highly populous area a short walk from the University that was absolutely destitute of shops, cafes or restaurants. Within the last six months of my stay, I noticed a slight upcropping of private enterprise initiative in this market-rich area, but perhaps the most glaring detail with these new shops was the decided un-german initiative involved. Almost every shop was owned and operated by a foreigner, most usually of Asian or Turkish decent. It seemed almost as if the risk-benefit factor was something that was lost on the East Germans during their time behind the Wall and sense reunification, it has had trouble being re-taught.
The book was not without its faults however. Ayn Rand permits herself to fall into the same pit that Marx did when introducing the main tenents of Communism to the world: namely she removed the human element from the system. The characters in her book are too pure in their actions, with the "good" capitalists relegated to supremely good status and the "bad" socialists taking on an evil, destructive twist. No character stradles the grey area that all human beings walk and no "bad guy" is introduced on the side of the Capitalists, nor are there any "good guys" in support of the Socialist system. This is a fundamental flaw in her work and leaves no room for the Skillings and Leys of Enron infamy for the world. Her Libertarian dream thus should be relegated amongst the same league as the socialist utopian society considering its lack of acknowledgement of the human condition.