Who Is John Galt?

(DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN TO READ ATLAS SHRUGGED.)

For the record, I started Atlas Shrugged back in November, before the internet was filled with studies documenting the positive correlation between sales of the book and the state of the economy. I started the recent bandwagon, I did not hop on it.

I had returned from a beach vacation and decided that I needed to read something other than Vince Flynn and John Grisham. I don't mind reading trash from time-to-time, but I needed to read something substantial. Somehow I settled on Atlas Shrugged, not really knowing what to expect.

The story is about how seemingly innocent changes to an economy, made with the best intentions, will inevitably lead to its downfall. The only thing that survives are the principles and values held close by a few industrialists, entrepreneurs and thinkers. In theory, economies should perform better when left to their own devices. The state of the economy in the book begins crumbling the moment the Unification Board starts interfering. In an attempt to increase equality, the Board distorts incentives to such a degree that the country grinds to a halt.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. I was surprised to find that I already viewed the world in a similar fashion to Rand: I'm big on self-sufficiency, staying true to one's beliefs and the ideals of laissez-faire.

My timing could not have been better. As the powers that be in the book slowly started regulating everything, talk of 'bad banks' and Government Motors (GM) became more and more prevalent. The parallels were uncanny. So far, the real has yet to spiral to the depths that the fictional US does, but we may be on our way.

The book is huge, literally and figuratively. She fully succeeds in getting her point across. It's powerful. It resonates.

Wikipedia has a good entry here, a discussion of themes and symbols is here and a recent piece comparing the book to the world we are currently in is here.