In the dystopian United States of Atlas Shrugged, private enterprises are burdened by progressively onerous rules and regulations.
Dagny Taggart, a railroad executive, and Hank Rearden, a steel magnate, fight off “looters” who seek to take advantage of their productivity.
Atlas Shrugged is primarily a book that defends free-market capitalism and is opposed to socialism. But it also presents philosophical notions on how to develop into a more useful person.
A wealthy Jewish family welcomed Alisa Rosenbaum into the world in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg. Her family fled to the Crimea when the Bolsheviks seized the drugstore that her father, Fronz, operated. Alisa went back to the city, which had been renamed Leningrad, to finish college, but in 1926, relatives who had already emigrated to America invited her to join them.
Alisa purchased a ticket to New York using the proceeds from the sale of her mother’s jewelry. She quickly relocated to Hollywood to study English. Alisa was an extra who worked in the RKO clothing department. She also worked on novels and scripts all night long. She introduced the concept of Objectivism in these books.
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.”
“People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked…The man who lies to the world, is the world’s slave from then on…There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.”
The book takes place in a pre-dystopic period of deteriorating economic conditions. The current vice president, a woman by the name of Dagny Taggart, is in charge of running American activities.
His present objective is to restore the Rio Norte Line of the Taggart Transcontinental Company to Colorado. In this book, Colorado is still the only state where industrial enterprise is still profitable.
Due to the bulk of the nation’s most brilliant entrepreneurs retiring or leaving the country, Taggart fails to make this repair. When the Mexican government decided to nationalise Taggart’s line through San Sebastian, the railroad crisis grew worse. This line was initially constructed to service the copper mills owned by Francisco d’Anconia.
The mills, however, ended up being worthless. Francisco was once a prosperous manufacturer, but as he grew older, he had merely devolved into a plaything of little value. He was Taggart’s lover. Jim Taggart, Taggart’s brother, attempted to use his political clout to address the railroad’s financial issues. He specifically tries to have legislation passed that would eliminate Taggart’s sole rival in Colorado.
Taggart makes an attempt to use Rearden metal to repair the Rio Norte line. Hank Rearden, an inventor, has developed this new metal. In addition, Taggart questions Francisco, the man she is in love with, about his connection to the San Sebastian mines. Francisco clarifies, however, that he is intentionally destroying d’Anconia copper in order to support Taggart.
After Taggart invests in Rearden metal, disaster strikes. The metal receives criticism from the State Science Institute. Taggart thus experiences substantial wealth and power loss. She makes the decision to launch her own business in order to build the line herself. She was able to transform the business into a big success because to her perseverance and expertise. During this time, Taggart leaves Francisco behind and develops feelings for the metal inventor Rearden.
They find a motor in an abandoned factory together. Amazingly, this motor could function solely on static electricity. They were both astounded by the inventiveness of this art and set out to find the creator.
The government continued to severely impede industrial firms throughout this time. Colorado’s industry is crippled by recent regulations. Strange events begin to appear in addition to these laws. For instance, Ellis Wyatt, a businessman in the oil industry, vanishes without a trace.
Although the circumstances are odd, the police determine that he intentionally set fire to his own wells. Wyatt wouldn’t be the first businessman to vanish.
Soon later, a large number of other industrialists begin to vanish mysteriously. Taggart comes to think that a “destroyer” is responsible for these disappearances. She claims that this “destroyer” aims to make significant individuals vanish just when they are needed.
Rearden, the inventor of metal, is then put on trial for violating one of the government’s new laws. He declines to take part in the proceedings, though. Additionally, he informs the judges that they cannot force him to admit guilt. Despite the fact that the legal system had gotten more oppressive, they were cautious to avoid seeming as thugs. As a result, they freed Rearden.
Rearden’s assistance is required for Wesley Mouch, the economic dictator, to enact a new set of socialist laws. By chatting with Rearden’s wife, he is able to compel this collaboration. She is aware that Taggart and Rearden have been having an affair. She thus offers Mouch this knowledge in exchange for payment. Utilizing this information, Mouch threatens Rearden into approving the new set of legislation. In order to preserve Taggart’s reputation, Rearden consents to sign away his metal. He makes a bargain using her information that Rearden and Dagny are having an affair. The new legislation, known as Directive 10-289, is oppressive and unreasonable. It also stipulates that the government must be given ownership of all patents.
Following the implementation of the new legislation, Taggart makes the decision to leave her company and relocate to a mountain resort. Despite how enjoyable this time is, she is compelled to return to work when she hears of a significant “accident” at the Taggart Tunnel. She receives a letter from a man expressing his concern that the “destroyer” may next target him. Taggart followed his aircraft in her own private plane in an effort to safeguard him and solve the mystery. However, the plane leads her in the direction of the mountains, where it crashes. After a period of being unconscious, Taggart awakens in a rural valley filled with retired industrialists. The industrialists had been striking rather than passing away.
In this location, Taggart encounters a guy by the name of John Galt, who she later discovers is both the “destroyer” and the creator of the motor she found so amazing in the abandoned warehouse.
Galt captures Taggart’s heart. He had a strong interest in business. She can’t abandon her railroad, though. She departs the valley as a result to return to her job. She returns to a railroad industry that has been nationalized. The top officials in the government advise Taggart to give a speech reassuring the populace of the new laws. She first rejects, but Mouch uses the information he knows about her against her to blackmail her. She openly announces her relationship with Rearden on broadcast, surprising the authorities in the process. She also discloses that the authorities had been extorting her and attempting to suppress the entire populace.
Politicians no longer pretend to serve the public interest after this speech. In addition to causing more disarray, the new nationalization causes crops to decay while they wait on trains that have been diverted for favors. The government incites a riot at Rearden Steel in order to seize control of Francisco’s mills. But Francisco leads the steelworkers in organization and resistance. At the mills, Francisco had been performing covert work. Rearden is saved by Francisco, who later persuades him to join the strike.
John Galt takes over the airwaves just as the head of state is about to deliver a speech on the state of the economy. He speaks for a long time to the nation. Galt outlines the guidelines for the strike he has planned. Galt is sought after by the government to become their economic dictator out of desperation. Galt chooses to go back to the valley, though. She officially joins their strike. The outside world collapses without the industrialists. The industrialists slowly make their way back and begin to reconstruct their society after the collapse of the outside world.
Be efficient, but effective
People who accomplish things and those who don’t are contrasted throughout the book. Taggart faces a variety of challenges that keep her from reaching her full potential. She was ineffective as a result of these challenges, yet she was still successful. She and the other industrialists are ultimately the ones left with the task of rebuilding the globe. She was forced to play the long game due to others’ inefficiencies. She was prepared to wait though. Instead of trying to be consistently efficient despite the challenges, she was effective in her response to inefficiency.
According to the book’s lessons, there are five ways that highly productive people, like Taggart, deal with the forced inefficiency of others:
- Point out when someone is being irrational. Taggart has a propensity of criticising the logic or arguments of others throughout the entire book. This is a much better strategy than getting angry or taking things personally.
- Take action in the face of inefficiency. Most of the challenges you’ll encounter were likely put there by someone else. However, Atlas Shrugged advises avoiding or altogether disregarding others’ challenges rather than confronting them head-on and dealing with their shortcomings. This spirit of independence will enable you to keep up your level of productivity.
- Reframe other people’s objections into a positive. Objections are often an excuse for inaction by other people. However, Taggart had a knack for spinning other people’s objections to motivation.
- conviction in both your voice and beliefs. The topic of social anxiety comes up frequently in conversations. You need others to believe in your messages, though, in order to be an effective person. Having faith in and confidence in your own message is one method to accomplish this.
- Say what you think others want to hear. Even if you might have a tendency to dispute over even the smallest differences, it is often preferable to simply smile and get along. The little things are frequently not that significant. Therefore, consider your efficacy rather than obsessing over minute details to maximize efficiency.
Business Learnings
Numerous business-related lessons can be learned from Atlas Shrugged. These lessons are introduced inside the plot through some of the key characters’ experiences.
- Never rely on other people to tell you whether you are improving. You are the best judge of whether you are efficiently moving towards your goals when you set them. Others are unlikely to support your efforts to achieve your goals, but they are also unlikely to oppose them. The majority of people won’t care about your objectives. So, don’t rely on other people to tell you whether or not you’re making progress.
- There are many unpleasant tasks and situations in life. Some of these jobs, though, are essential for your advancement. So, do not steer clear of them.
- Once you’ve established your goals, try to keep things as straightforward and uncomplicated as you can. Reduce everything in your life but what is absolutely necessary to move you closer to your objectives.
- Personal requirements and emotions have no bearing on work. You must accept this way of life if you want to succeed in business.
- Follow your plan to the letter. Make sure you have a firm timeline for completion when you have established goals. These objectives will inspire you.
- Choose the perfect company for yourself. For instance, you will be more productive if you are around more productive people.
Characters in Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand fall into one of two groups depending on whether or not they are productive. Always try to stay out of the unproductive half. These individuals rely on thievery and almsgiving to make ends meet. The kind of person you don’t want to be is outlined below:
- not wishing to contribute anything to the world.
- creating fictitious barriers to make things more difficult than they need to be.
- having no purpose in life.
- seeking approval from others before taking into account your own feelings.
- resenting others’ successes rather than drawing inspiration and drive from them.
The characters in Atlas Shrugged base their actions on a set of principles. First, according to Ayn Rand, individuals should appreciate what others actually accomplish rather than what they claim to be able to. additionally accepting accountability for all of your deeds. You may learn from your failures and increase your productivity by doing this. Last but not least, according to Ayn Rand, happiness is a result of both the goals you establish and the acts you take.
Additionally, Ayn Rand repeatedly mentions the following traits of successful people in the book:
- Truth
- Good will
- Reason
- Purpose
- Action
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