Steve Simpson, ARI’s new Director of Legal Studies, has just published a dynamite op-ed on Forbes.com. The title is “Atlas Shrugged Is A Book About Pride In One’s Work, And The Success That Results.” It’s a response to a piece published recently in Business Insider called “‘Atlas Shrugged’ Is Full Of Terrible Business Advice,” by a writer named Max Nisen.
From Steve’s article:
In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand presents a vision of man that is unlike anything ever written. Rand’s ideal man is the visionary, the genius, the producer. Her foremost representatives of this ideal are businessmen, whom she portrays, at their best, as heroes, not villains; creators, not parasites.
Rand’s vision has inspired successful people from all walks of life for generations. They love the book, not because it tells them how to make better yoga clothing or run a better taxi service, but because it offers profound insights about the principles that lead to success (or failure) in any field, and it shows those principles playing out in the lives of the novel’s characters.
The book has been criticized often in the five decades since it was published. Most frustrating for those of us who love it are critiques that misunderstand its essential points and end up attacking straw men.
Instead of dwelling on the errors and misrepresentations in Nisen’s article, Steve concentrates on summarizing the valuable advice actually contained in Atlas Shrugged. Here are the headings under which his discussions fall:
Take pride in your success.
Pursue your own happiness and achieve it.
Money is the product of virtue.
Trade is a virtue, but sacrifice is not.
Government is a necessary good.
Read the whole article here.
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