Kashan - Atlas

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DOCTORAL FORUM NATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PUBLISHING AND MENTORING DOCTORAL STUDENT RESEARCH

An Epistemological Analysis of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand: The Loss of the Society Kashan Ishaq PhD Student in Educational Leadership College of Education Prairie View A & M University

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD Professor PhD Program in Educational Leadership Member of the Texas A & M University System Visiting lecturer (2005) Oxford Round Table University of Oxford, Oxford, England Distinguished Alumnus (2004) Central Washing University College of Education and Professional Studies

___________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT After struggling for several years at various non-writing jobs Ayn Rand wrote Atlas Shrugged which is one of her major contribution to the society. In this book she uncovers the bitter truth that has upset many power hungry individuals who want to control the world. Many have appreciated her views and her struggle to bring the positive change. _____________________________________________________________________________ _ Introduction

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Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (1957) is an extraordinary book that capture’s every ones attention to focus on the truth of this world. It unveils the corruption of the society and shows the government’s unreasonable control over people. Each character in the book has a unique role to play and John Galt is one of those main characters who are referred to as a messiah in the book. Purpose of the Article The purpose of the article is to understand that no matter how controlling the government can get to interfere in each individual’s business, one must be smart to know that the brains of the world such as inventors, scientists, engineers, technologist can withdraw to have a major impact on the government. Any government or organization won’t be able to run without the smart minds, they play a major role in the improvement and progress of any kind.

Characters John Galt – He is the main character of the novel, who dominates the action. He was the first great thinker to go on the strike. He was Dagny Taggart’s last lover. He is the character that initiates, conceives, and carries to a successful conclusion of the strikers. He was also known as the motor of the world. Since he was the major mind of the strikers, he was also known as the messiah. Dagny Taggart – She is novel’s heroine who was highly concerned for saving the world. She was the last person to go on the strike. Her passion was the improvement of the railroads and the people to be independent of running their own business without any governmental interference.

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James Taggart – He is Dagny’s older brother and the president of the Taggart Transcontinental. He was known as a “looter”, a businessman who seeks gain not by productive work by political connections. He knew a lot of people who helped him get through what he wanted. Dagny is dedicated to truth that supports here ability to discover new knowledge and create new ideas and products. Hank Rearden – He runs the steel mills. He invented the substance called Rearden Metal. He was the second lover of Dagny Taggart and the brother of Philip Rearden. Galt refuses to government’s offer of accepting Steel Unification Plan. He was the threat to strike because of his willingness to yield to the looters. Francisco d’ Anconia- He was the first one to join John Galt in going on strike and an active recruiter for the strike. He was the first lover of Dagny but he had to sacrifice his love when he went on the strike. He is the world’s wealthiest man and a brilliant copper industrialist. He works together with Rearden for a common goal and that is to keep the government stay out. Ragnar Dannekjold – He is the friend of John Galt also joins the strike. He is a brilliant philosopher who chooses to fight the looters as a pirate; he robs their ships and restores the wealth to the people who produced it. Hugh Akston – He is the philosopher who taught Galt, Francisco, and Ragnat at the Patrick Henry University. He joins Galt’s strike in the beginning. Richard Halley – He is the composer liked by Dagny. His music was rejected by most people who believed in corruption.

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Midas Mulligan – He is the most successful banker in the world. He is the owner of the valley in a remote section of the Colorado Rockies. He believed that the minds shouldn’t be wasted and therefore joined the strike. Ellis Wyatt - He was very genius and expert in the oil industry. He was against government policies and set fire to his oil wells as an answer to the government’s interference. He conveyed the message to the government that they need to rebuilt the oil wells and that is how he found it. Cherryl Brooks – She is James Taggart’s wife. She came from a very poor family who lived in slums. She moved to New York to pursue her career. She admired the high achievers and thought of James Taggart is the one to be married with. The Wet Nurse – He is a newly graduate hired to Spy Rearden’s Mills. He was honest to recognize Rearden’s moral structure and the looters. He was admired by Cherryl and later he was destroyed by the looters. Tom Colby – He is the head of the union of Readren steelworkers. He recognizes that there is no necessary conflict of interest between employer and employees. He pays labor force slightly higher than union scale. Gwen Ives - She is Rearden’s secretary, very dedicated and loyal to tenant. She left the firm when Rearden retires. Her commitment to justice is shown when she cries when she heard Rearden’s being robbed of his mines by the passage of the Equalization of Opportunity Bill. Lillian Rearden – She is Hank Rearden’s wife. She never loved Rearden. She only wanted to control him and make him feel guilty for his focus on business more than the family. She makes

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connections with the looters in an attempt to reach the one goal of her life which is to destroy her husband who she hates. She was motivated to destroy him along with her family members. Dr. Robert Stadler – He was the head of the department of Physics. He was very genius in his field of Physics. He felt that the brilliant minds are endangered minority among the uneducated majority. For this reason, he can use the governmental force to advance the cause of Science. Wesley Mouch – He was known as the dictator of the country. His policies were in favor of the corrupt government which led many genius minds to go on strike. He rises by selling Readren out regarding the Equalization of Opportunity Bill, which led him to be favored by James Taggart. Mr. Thompson – He is the Head of the State. He was very self-fish to the point where he would make any deal with anybody to make him powerful. Dr. Floyd Ferris – He is the head of the State Science Institute. He comes to Rearden and says that the government has evidence of his affair with Dagny Taggart and will make it public, trying to back mail Rearden to give up on his strike. Dr. Simon Pritchett – He is the professor who takes Hugh Akston’s place as head of the Department of Philosophy at Partick Henry University. Orren Boyle – He is the owner of Associated Steel and a friend of Jim Taggart. The government’s expropriation of patents gave Boyle the legal right to manufacture Rearden Metal, but Ragnar Daneskjold blows up his mills, ensuring that the only man to profit from the new metal is the one who created it.

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Fred Kinnan – He is the head of the country’s labor union. He is also a gangster who searches for power. He openly admits that he is a criminal. Philip Rearden – He is the brother of Hank Rearden. He benefited from his brother’s determination and hard work. Cuffy Meigs – He is a gangster who demands money for his own protection. He wanted to take over Project X. He died during his struggle with Dr. Stadler over Xylophone.

Saving the World from Falling Ayn Rand show in the book that one man can prevent the society from falling blindly. The story revolves around in search for John Galt who is the savior of the society. Dagny Taggart is desperately trying to save the world through her commitment to stop the corruption. She finally discovered the cure to save the world is to save the great minds of the society from withdrawing. Dagny realized the reality of the metaphysical world and its existence. Her metaphysical world view was real and correct to the degree which she was able to comprehend the government and that is why she was committed to fight for people’s right. Genius minds can be saved if the patience and commitment of the leaders are there to fight for individual right. The genius minds withdrew from the society because they were pessimistic to stop the corruption of the government. The genius minds can be wasted when the hope is at stake and the hearts are filled with fear. In Atlas Shrugged (1957), the great minds of the world such as inventors, scientists, engineers withdrew when the rulers of the society prevented them from using their minds effectively for their benefits. Dagny in search for strikers moved from state to

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state. Her fear was to prevent the great minds from withdrawing because if they withdrew from the society, it would be a major loss to the entire country. Who is John Galt? The main character of the novel, he is the man who have stopped the unequal treatment of the government and prevented the government to misuse its power over people. The phrase, “Who is John Galt” uttered as a sign of misery and desperation. John Galt, Francisco d’ Anconia, and Ragnar Dadeskjold, were the first three people to withdraw from the society. John Galt withdrew mainly to stop the exploiters from misusing the geniuses of the world after their own desired were fulfilled. He was insisted upon changing the authoritarians to realize the importance of great minds of the society and the difference that Inventors, Engineers, Scientists can make for their contributions. John Galt knew to stop the motor of the world and knew the chaos it would create. Government’s Injustice in Action The government in this novel ruins the society’s future by greatly practicing the communism. The socialist/communist government’s initial plan was to develop equal society where one would not become richer than the other individual. This was still not the best governmental approach because their initial plan practices controlling over people to create classless society. Ethics teach us that controlling over people’s free will can destroy the society. Government violates individual rights which Ayn Rand stated as Objectivism. Laissez Faire is what lets individual business to be free in the society. In the novel, government’s unification plan that nationalized the railed industry and controlled by government is an example

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of the communist government where there is no free market or capitalism. The axiology of the society that Ayn Rand discovered was to gain the value of the human minds and its contribution to the society. Great Mind’s Achievement The great minds fulfill their achievement when they see most people are their followers. In the story, the great minds had the vision of having people follow through their dreams. In order for them to achieve independency they were committed. They had to live through their dreams by constantly reminding themselves that they can earn the dream without having any fear. One must have to live with his desire of achieving and know the basic necessities in order to live. Ayn Rand states, “A desire to live does not give you knowledge required for living” (Rand, 1957, P 1013). One must know the process for living; a man is not born with such basic instincts of survival like animals do. Man can’t survive like animals do. Man has to discover the process. He needs to learn what is right and wrong. He has to grow food for him to survive, he doesn’t know it automatically what to do. He has to be trained to learn the process of life to survive. He also has to learn the law of logic and to think accordingly if one has capability to think. Ayn Rand (1961), states that, “Men who attempt to survive, not by means of reason but by means of force are attempting to survive by method of animals (Rand, 1961, P25). Man must be able to learn the process of survival and once he learns it, it is his achievement. This idea of survival method was discovered by the great minds and they used it for their advantage to bring the positive change. The survival of the great minds were to go on strike and proof to the communist government that for a country to economically survive they must take into striker’s request of

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full laissez-fair capitalism. Ayn Rand, (1957) states that, “Laissez-fair capitalism is a system of free markets that legally prevent the government from restricting man’s productive activities-as the only philosophical system that protects the freedom of man’s mind, the right of the individual, and the prosperity of man’s life on earth” (P.11). Concluding Remarks In conclusion, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged brings to everyone’s attention how the minds of the world can stop the motor of the world. Human beings have accomplished greatly using their minds curing diseases such as malaria, polio, dysentery, chlorea, diphtheria, and tuberculosis. Besides curing diseases, the great minds have been on the moon. According to the Wikipedia online, “The United States space agency NASA achieved the first manned landing on Earth's Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission commanded by Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong landed the lunar module Eagle on the surface of the Moon with a companion, while the third astronaut orbited above. Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon, with Buzz Aldrin being the second. Armstrong and Aldrin spent a day on the surface of the Moon before returning to Earth. NASA carried out six manned moon landings between 1969 and 1972” Government realized the importance of having a capitalist society where business owners have the freedom to grow financially and sustain independently. For a government to practice communist or socialist system would be a downturn economically which would cause the chaos among the society.

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Reference Rand, A. (1957). Atlas shrugged. New York: Penguin Putnam, Incorporated. Rand, A. (1961). The virtue of selfishness. New York: Penguin Putnam, Incorporated. Wikipedia.org (2008). Retrieved March 27, 2009, from wikepedia.org website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing