Atlas Shrugged: A Rationale
Struggle, ideas, protest, intrigue- all these concepts merged in a unique way to become the famous Atlas Shrugged book. The intricate plot of the novel tells us a story about the events set up in the foreseeable future, when the state tends to control the distribution of goods by introducing drastic and heinous measures. The novel is based on a truly unique idea — a strike of producers.
The plot of the book, along with the tenuous narration, covers many original ideas that were united by the author, Ayn Rand, into a new philosophical movement — the Objectivism. Taking the entrepreneurs’ strike as a dramatic example, the writer made a special stress on the importance of individualism and person’s care of itself.
Limited Access to Unlimited Ideas
The philosophical concept of Ayn Rand is based on the belief that only one objective reality exists. However, not so many people are honored to percept this objective reality. These persons are also those who use this skill for creating art and introducing new ideas into the world of “regular” people.
It seems like the Achilles’ heel of this concept is that the “channellers” use their ability of percepting the objective reality for making material profit. However, this is a very debatable question. Rand’s ideas represented in the Atlas Shrugged verge to the regular mundane egoism. It appears that as soon as the state decides to extend the possibilities of its citizens, those having the feeling of the objective reality rebel.
Taking into consideration the conditions of our modern world that goes “sharing” ever more, one may think that the entrepreneurs should both get profit from their inventions and try to expand the consciousness of the whole humanity, so that everyone could percept the objective reality, too.
The covered hint on the fact that Ayn Rand’s “channellers” do not want to share their abilities is actually what has recently caused so much discussion around this extraordinary book. The novel arouses mixed feelings: on the one hand, the readers understand the producers’ problem, but on the other hand they see a certain degree of covered (thus, even more repulsive) egoism in their actions.
The Real State of the State
The State is one of the main characters of the novel. The state, representing a generalized image of the greedy people who have no access to the objective world view. This “blindness” motivates the state to use power that uncovers the people’s ignorance even worse. They contrapose themselves to the “unconscious majority”, and decide that escaping their reality is the best decision, though in fact it is an act of weakness.
As people possessing extraordinary creative potential, the entrepreneurs could have initiated a compromise with the State. They are the ones to understand that opposing the majority is incredibly hard, so their state would be a way better if their number (though being minor) would gradually grow. However, it appears that the “channellers” are concentrated on themselves, and do not want to look for alternative solutions.
Individual Collectivism?
Collectivism, which is commonly accepted as a philosophical movement opposing objectivism, also can not be called an ideal system of values. The needs of the society can not rank above the needs of each particular individual. The paradox is that only the unity of collectivism and individualism can give a result that (let’s take the novel as an example) could satisfy the needs of the producers and regular people at once.
The way the wild nature (if untouched by human) is organized shows that everything has to be balanced. The principles of balance (harmony, equilibrium — whatever you like) could send a new impulse to the world. But today, similarly to the events described in this novel by Ayn Rand, the producers of goods tend to concentrate on their own needs.
The new generation of people who grew up in the age of the Internet is surprisingly aware of the imperfection of the modern system and tries to unite personal needs and the needs of the society. As such, today it is important for them not only to earn money for living, but also share important information with the others. Who knows — maybe one day they will start sharing their material resources, too.
Obviously, such “balance” contains the elements of individualism and collectivism. The only question left is would Ayn Rand’s “Atlases” consent to such equilibrium, or continue the struggle for their own needs and privileged access to the objective reality?
In the long run, the philosophical axis of this novel is similar to the plot of The Matrix movie: a group of machines (read Atlases) is aware of the real image of the world. But, when the “blind” people also try to understand what the objective reality is like, they are prevented from that. Anyway, “The Matrix” resulted in the consent…
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