Marketplace of Ideas Blog

Wall Street Journal editorial page writer Stephen Moore has seen what is happening in Washington before … in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged:

Many of us who know Rand’s work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that Atlas Shrugged parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit. …

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs … and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism. …

Ultimately, Atlas Shrugged is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand’s political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear — leaving everyone the poorer.

If you haven't read Atlas Shrugged, you should. You won't agree with all of it (Rand, who has an interesting list of admirers, and I part ways on the subject of God), but today, “the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect,” those who make our standard of living possible, are today more the subject of envy and scorn, particularly in the past year. There is also a huge difference between your choosing to help others, and being coerced into “helping” others through tax rates designed to knock down those selfish “rich” people.