I blind bought Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and I was enjoying the story of romance and trains when some friends started telling me of her controversial philosophy and the demographic that follows her ideology and how problematic they can get. After having looked into her world view, I cant say that l agree either her pro capitalism views and her heavy handedness when it comes to speaking about the masses. It seems very pro-billionare and I hate that.
This being said, I would hate to dig into Atlas Shrugged further if all it is going to be is pro free market and rich and wealthy propaganda. Is the story of the book good enough to enjoy without agreeing with the authors world view?
TLDR: Can I enjoy the Atlas Shrugged plot and story while disliking pro-capitalist world views? Or is the story just propaganda?
by hsuchilt
7 Comments
Theres nothing “problematic” here.
Its a book. Read it. Like it, or dont. It really is thst simple.
Its not a youtube channel collecting hits. In fact, it may strengthen your anticapitalist views to read it entirely.
There’s only one way to find out, finish the book and have an original thought on what your opinion is!
I dislike Rand’s philosophy, but I love some of her novels. You don’t have to agree with her to enjoy her works. Many of my favorite authors have very different political views than I do. I don’t see a problem with that, and why should I? I find it fascinating to get a glimpse into the mind of someone who thinks very differently from me.
If nothing else, it will make you think. Her world view might work if the billionaire capitalists she describes existed. There is no moral integrity there anymore, simply greed and a willingness to do anything for a dollar
Every damn college kid reads this and think they found some new genius insight. You ain’t the first. It’s a book. Good one given the sales. But like anything, it has to be taken in context. Like many things, when you don’t read a lot you can be easily fooled into ideas that are superficial or whatever, any idea. It’s up to you to use your critical thinking skills. That comes from reading more. I’m Afro Latino and I read Mein Kempf, Hitler made some great points in his arguments and speeches. But given everything overall yeah he was a bit mad, crazy even. Whatever that means I suppose too.
I enjoyed it as a book. Except there’s like an 80 page rant toward the end that you can totally skip. You’ll know it when you see it.
For me this is one of those books where I was glad I read it blind because it is hard for me to separate the art from the artist in this case, and I’ve never gone back to it. Also it was reallllly long lol. But, if you are a libertarian you will love it! Or maybe it will convince you to become a libertarian. Or maybe it will just be an enjoyable book and you can consider and reject her philosophical ideals.
I read *Atlas Shrugged* all the way through in college. I found it mind-blowing. Years later, I watched her interviews on YouTube and thought she possessed an interesting mind. Then I saw how she *lived* her life in her elder years. Aha! When she *needed* it, she took advantage of the very same programs she had spent decades previously deriding.
The benefit of accessing all things AR in hindsight lends to a series of epiphanies.
Do with that what you will. If it takes you a whole month of your life to slog through Atlas Shrugged, the month is going to pass anyway, correct?