Atlas Shrugged: Is It What Many Believe It To Be?

Much has been said about Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged. Most of it negative by those of us who are not wealthy or a part of the world that has made their living on the backs of others. It has been called a Bible of sorts by some in the elite world of the Koch Brother’s, Paul Ryan’s, and that ilk. They have taken her words to mean something far different than I did in the numerous times I read it. When she wrote about the doer’s, the builders, and those people who grow the world and the country, I didn’t and don’t believe she meant parasites like the Paul Ryan’s and Rand Paul’s of this world. Those who have earned their living by making life deliberately worse for others, moving jobs overseas, raping companies who are already in trouble, and then closing them. Bankrupting all those who have given their lives to build the company. From the founders to those employees who saved for their old age in the company pension, nor do I believe she meant them to be the parasites of the book. Instead, she was talking about the Paul Ryan’s, Rand Paul’s, Mitt Romney’s, and Koch Brothers, the type of person who believes that a person, who isn't rich and doesn't loot or destroy so that their pockets can be further lined are the parasites. For these people are not building, they do not see the connection between the consumer, and the worker. They do not see people who would like to feed, clothe, and house their family honestly, but can no longer do so as a result of the looting of their futures by these same people who line their pockets by destroying. The people who believe that anything they do, justifies their quest for power and more money. Those that say to the mother who has lost her husband through one of their wars, or due to illness, “you should have planned better, you should have saved, invested. If your children want to eat you should have suffered more, you should not have had them, but your option can only have come from the choice of abstinence, for you should have foreseen the loss of your husband, the loss of his job to another country, the loss of your home, due to the loss of his job. You should have known it would happen for it is a dog eat dog world.” It is my firm belief that it is these people who are intent on destruction, and they are the ones that Ayn Rand was talking about in Atlas Shrugged. They are not the builders, they are the looters. They seek to destroy the foundations of the American Dream, our constitution, and any chance that a person can earn their way out of poverty. Are there those who play the system, oh yes, I see it every day, but look at their role models. Look at what we teach people through today’s movies, television, games, and by our very actions. We teach them how to delight in the downfall of others, we teach them that meanness, and cynicism is a admirable thing, we teach them how to be foolish and to dump on others, to gain from the destruction of someone else. By our actions, we teach them every day that violence, through words and actions are a praiseworthy thing. We teach them that the way to success is not through building, but instead through destroying. When a politician or a judge says “you aren't responsible for your actions because someone else does not matter.” They are wrong! It is my belief that when one’s money, power, and status are obtained by the obliteration of another’s ability to grow to their full potential, to feed, clothe, and house their family by removing their ability to value themselves by honest work and education this is the true destruction of our world.