Mark Reese’s Reviews > Atlas Shrugged > Status Update

Rand seems almost contradictory in her narrative.

Sex is used as a murky theme that is difficult to ascertain, given the central themes of selfishness.

Galt’s Gulch is pretty, but totally unattainable in the real world. Many selfish actors living in close quarters wouldn’t bring peace and prosperity to all.

The idea that man is more rational than he is irrational, the idea that selfishness and egotism can be moral, the idea that one should only do things with their own self interest in mind, and the idea that abdicating all responsibility to one’s own community to see it fail…

These are all principles that are incorrect, they lead to a variety of contradictions.

“Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong”

Rand’s story is interesting, even inspirational at points. However, she poses a contradictory solution, that selfishness is moral, based on a false premise, that humans are rational in their thought.

John Galt is Rand’s Perfect man, her messianic figure.

While the world of Atlas Shrugged is an unfortunate one, it does not mean that the objectivist extreme is correct.