And some excerpts selected within an earlier piece from Salon:
10 (insane) things I learned about the world reading Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”
Reading Atlas Shrugged is like entering into a strange mirror universe where everything we thought we knew about economics and morality is turned upside down. I’ve already learned some valuable lessons from it.
1. All evil people are unattractive; all good and trustworthy people are handsome.
All the villains — the “looters,” in Rand’s terminology — are rotund, fleshy and sweaty, with receding hairlines, sagging jowls and floppy limbs, while her millionaire industrialist heroes are portraits of steely determination, with sharp chins and angular features like people in a Cubist painting.
2. The mark of a great businessman is that he sneers at the idea of public safety.
When we meet Dagny Taggart, Rand’s heroic railroad baron, she’s traveling on a cross-country train which gets stuck at a stoplight that may or may not be broken.When the crew frets that they should wait until they’re sure it’s safe, Dagny pulls rank and orders them to drive through the red light. This, in Rand’s world, is the mark of a heroic and decisive capitalist, rather than the kind of person who in the real world would soon be the subject of headlines like “22 Dead in Train Collision Caused by Executive Who Didn’t Want to Be Late For Meeting.”
3. Bad guys get their way through democracy; good guys get their way through violence.
Henry Ford recognized that nothing ever got accomplished through a committee. Most of her examples of passing legislation dealt with compromise and back-room deals.
Elliot Wyatt left his oil-fields the way he found them by destroying the equipment.
If you take this section more literally, evil through collusion is fine, defense involving any type of violence is reprehensible.
4. The government has never invented anything or done any good for anyone.
Of course, in the real world, only minor trifles, like radar, space flight, nuclear power, GPS, computers, and the Internet were brought about by government research.
At what price? How about an R & D department investigating the proper role and implementation of government too?
5. Violent jealousy and degradation are signs of true love.
Oh no. Rough sex and infidelity,
6. All natural resources are limitless.
Ok, the law of identity does redress the idea of an unlimited supply of oil, or producing limitless energy for free. As to producing the limitless energy for free - do not forget the fact that the equipment needed to tap into this resource still needs to be built and maintained.
7. Pollution and advertisements are beautiful; pristine wilderness is ugly and useless.
I actually miss billboards on longer trips on the freeway. trying to decode a bunch of 9" square symbols to determine if the exit will satisfy my need of gas or taste in food is somewhat distracting to driving.
8. Crime doesn’t exist, even in areas of extreme poverty.
Apparently he missed the breaking of the windshield by the little barbarians, the increasing violence - especially in the aftermath of the radio broadcast, or Hank Reardon realizing he had the gun in his pocket trained on the police officer after the fact.
9. The only thing that matters in life is how good you are at making money.
If leaded paint were shunned by concerned consumers, what kind of market would there be for it? Don’t worry. A paternal kleptocracy will keep you safe.
10. Smoking is good for you.
I think I heard that when she was told by her doctor she needed to stop smoking, she did, cold-turkey. None the less, it neatly wraps up the blue smoke and mirrors inside this little fun-house.
Edited: Added