I hope some of those books have been bought by Republicans. They're in the most need of familiarizing themselves with the book's philosophy.

Looks like "income redistribution" is going to get here faster than anyone thought.

No need to worry about the economy, we won't have any resources to produce the energy needed to run it.

Hey, all you coal people who voted for Obama,
how's that working out for you?

I read this a long time ago, and remember being very surprised at how determinedly self-destructive the folks who got into control of the government were. Not just normal bureaucratic stupidity, but "I've got a SERIOUS societal death wish that I'm disguising through rhetoric acceptable to the folks I run with" actions.

And I thought - "Hell, there's no way it could happen here!"

Life imitating art. Who'd have thunk it?

Great! People need to read it to see what is and could happen.

Watch...Next the sales of 1984 and Animal Farm will skyrocket!

If only the sales of the Federalist Papers would skyrocket, we would be so much better off.

http://franklinslocke.blogspot.com/

Kim, only the CEO's of the companies that accepted the federal bailout money.That is who has their salary capped. Get it correct, instead of the spin, would you?

"Sales of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged Triple"
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Haven't the sales of firearms almost doubled as well? hmmm.

Bloggers in England recently completed a successful drive to get people to buy and then mail copies of George Orwell's "1984" to Members of Parliament, with the goal of making sure that every MP received a copy ("It's a warning, not a manual!!!"). I read about this campaign at the Devil's Kitchen blog, and I think it may have been sponsored by the new UK Libertarian Party (DK is a founding member).

Perhaps American bloggers could kick off a similar campaign to get copies of "1984" and "Atlas Shrugged" mailed to every member of the House and Senate. It wouldn't hurt to extend the mailings to include state governors and mayors of large cities. Just the thing to read with a nice big helping of Tea Party!

JC hammer - "Kim, only the CEO's of the companies that accepted the federal bailout money.That is who has their salary capped. Get it correct, instead of the spin, would you?"

Then I'd suggest you review Barack Hussein Obama's speech before the Joint Session of Congress.

He didn't quibble, he didn't make exceptions, he said it would all stop.

"Get it correct, instead of the spin, would you?"

Atlas Shrugged is, indeed, a deadly assault weapon. Particularly the hardbound version.

Haven't the sales of firearms almost doubled as well? hmmm.

Holder said that putting the ban back in place would not only be a positive move by the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns going across the border into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels along the border.

Yes the sale of firearms have almost doubled in the months since the election. Gun owners have known all along that Obama and Co would start trying to ban weapons of all kinds. Of course liberals like Eric Holder, want this to happen right away. I didn't think that he would go against the last supreme court decision concerning firearms.

The firearms going to the drug cartels are not coming from the United States, they are coming from China and the Mid-east terrorist countries. They are supplying these weapons with the aim of someday these drug terrorists would attack the United States along the southern border. That is why we need the United States army on the border with orders to shoot to kill

the same tactics used in the book are being used against us today. Remember the big bad ceo's ...
i read it ... just finished it.

Who is John Galt?

Kim seems very upset with Obama asking that bonuses be capped with your government taxpayer money. In the initial Tarp, Bush and Treasury Scretary Bernanke said they couldn't tell the banks not to give bonuses to their executives for losing billions..Now we find that Bank of America used 3.1 billion dollars of the government bailout program (that is your money) in December, to pay Merill's performance bonuses for 2008.

Cuomo's office is seeking information about the individual awards of about 200 top employees. The top 14 got $250 million and the top 159 received over $858 million in bonuses. Overall, sources said, 694 employees at Merrill received bonuses in excess of $1 million. (each) The bank's four top executives received $121 million.

and Merill Lynch lost 25 billion in 2008 (what a performance) and were on life support and would have gone bankrupt had the taxpayers under Bush and Bernanke not bailed them out by supplying Bank of America with the 45 billion dollars to acquire them.

And Kim is getting the vapors that the corporate welfare Bank of America and Merill-Lynch executives should be allowed to do as they wish with taxpayer money (why not just take it all home with them instead of merely 10 percent) after all they could be said to be exercising Any Rands highest virtue, the virtue of selfishness. I expect Hugh will be saying next, that this perfectly validates his 'trickle down theory' of the way the US political economy must work.

"The firearms going to the drug cartels are not coming from the United States, they are coming from China and the Mid-east terrorist countries."
--
Try getting that though to the demagogues.

A number of years back, I picked up the audiobook of Atlas Shrugged to listen to during long commutes. I would dare say that book had a more profound affect on me than any I had read before.

Philosophy: Who Needs It, a collection of Rand's essays, is also worth reading as an intro..

"He was guilty of nothing, except that he earned his own fortune and never forgot that it was his." -Atlas Shrugged

that is the credo at my website at www.bejohngalt.com

I would like folks to visit there.

But I LOVE this website as well...and have posted here since its inception (and will continue to do so)

Stand up and fight, folks. The alternatives are dire.

should be allowed to do as they wish with taxpayer money

Of course, according to your ilk, it's really not our money, now is it?

Again I say, if it weren't for employer witholding, there would be an uprising that would make the Boston Tea Party look like a...well...tea party

Philosophy: Who Needs It, a collection of Rand's essays, is also worth reading as an intro..

Agreed. Very worth the while. Follow it by Francis Schaeffer.

Actually, SP and Stan25 - SOME are coming from the US. The ABC News article on it had a couple of extra stories from '08 about gun dealers near the border looking the other way on big buys of semi-auto weapons.

(Note - NOT automatic. For the non-gun-savvy, you can easily buy a semi-auto rifle with a cursory background check. To buy a fully automatic rifle, you need to have a FULL background check by the ATF AND FBI, pay a hefty fee for your license. And did I mention the random inspections to make sure you've still got it?)

And grenades? You don't get THOSE OTC at any random gun shop. Those most likely came from the ME, or the Mexican Army.

But stateside - the rotten gun dealers seem like a matter for the ATF to take care of. It wouldn't be the average gun owner in Michigan or Oregon buying something and shipping it across the border - and if they're wanting automatic weapons instead of semi-auto, overseas markets would be the way to go.

So why don't we just try enforcing the laws we HAVE instead of making up more that won't be enforced?

So why don't we just try enforcing the laws we HAVE instead of making up more that won't be enforced?
--------

That's way to logical.

I'm 100 pages away from completing ATLAS SHRUGGED...will finish tonight. The book was written the year I was born (1957) but the financial/political/social drama shockingly resembles 2009. So many great ideas & quotes...should have kept a highlighter nearby.

Detractors always point negatively to the "virture of self" philosophy without noticing all the GOOD created for others by those persons who work for their own satisfaction.

It would be interesting to see the Boards of say "Big Oil", banks, drug companies, auto manufacturers, airlines, etc. decide to fold up (strike) & close their companies for good.

You can buy a copy of, "Animal Farm," by Orwell for about $10 in any bookstore in the country. A great gift for younger readers.

I have a new method of finding prime numbers, a new philosophy that could make psychology and sociology into objective, rational, scientific pursuits, and a good grounding in one of the many skills needed to build a new society.

Now I just need to find a good gulch...

Steve
If you can articualte a cogent argument on how Obama and the Democrat's policy will help private sector job creation let's hear it.

Steve -

We're at a $1.75 trillion deficit in GOVERNMENT spending, and that's only going to increase.

We're supposed to get totally incensed at BOA spending part of the money they got on bonuses? What the hell is half the Stimulus bill BUT a big friggin' bonus and payoffs to all the loyal Democratic constituencies?

"Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone."

Maybe there is a chance that the source of our humanity will guide us after all.

I can just see Bill Ayers and Ward Churchill at Lillian Reardon's party. Slurping up the booze and bloviating on the ills of capitalism.

Yes, this book should be required reading for every citizen. The problem is, the idiots that voted for this sham administration don't read; they don't watch any news, MSM or otherwise. They don't think or reason for themselves, they just absorb what is fed to them every four years. After the election, they go back to their video games and IPods and don't have a clue what is going on. We all should have to pass a test on government and economics when we register to vote.

The problem is, the idiots that voted for this sham administration don't read

...whereas the fiercely anti-intellectual clods who were so turgid for Palin read Guns 'n' Ammo and Denny's menus.

We all should have to pass a test on government and economics when we register to vote.

Piss on the Constitution, Razorgirl! Piss on it!

You forgot the pirates and the unwillingness to handle the problem - my personal favorite similarity!

Just in time for Milton Friedman's theories to crash and burn along with an economic approach that was inspired by his ideas. ha! It's already over and now people are jumping on the band wagon. Too late.

I'm amazed at the comparisons to Atlas Shrugged that are framed from an anti-Obama and a pro-business point of view. A cursory reading of Ayn Rand reveals she was no a Republican and despised many things about the Republican Party. And Ayn Rand would be seething at the "moocher" mindset of corporate America using billions in taxmoney to finance corporate executive welfare. John Gault, Howard Roark, Dagny Taggert and Hank Reardon would never need government assistance to keep their businesses from failing under the weight of their own incompetence. The malicious government interference in Atlas Shrugged did not happen in the middle of financial and economic ruin caused in large part by excesses of the private sector. The out of control government actions in this novel were paternal and patronizing. If you are going to use this book to justify your position, read it and understand it....don't just reference it. What would Ayn Rand do? She would fomulate logical arguments not wild, mystical, fictional missives like many of these.