We're living in Ayn Rand's America

Atlas Shrugged 2022

I read “Atlas Shrugged” for the first time ten years ago, and wrote this column about the experience. At the time, the dystopian America presented by author Ayn Rand seemed unlikely to be anything I would see in my lifetime — or so I thought.

Is there incompetence and scapegoating in corporate America? Yes, of course. Is the government overly invested in promoting the economic interests of like-minded individuals? Youbetcha.

But the sort of wholesale incompetence that led to dangerous shortages? Naaa, I thought, not going to happen here.

Thing is, the country, it is a-changing. I re-read the tome to see if Rand’s vision seemed more in sync with America today. For me, the answer would be yes, some days you can practically hear the foreboding soundtrack when something that used to work doesn’t.

A big factor was COVID — with school shutdowns, business shutdowns, the pandemic deaths of more than a million Americans. We’re more than two years into the pandemic, and the economic damage seems worse than it was were early on.

The governing class made a virtue out of staying insulated. Children got used to staying at home. In blue America, visits with family members had to be plotted carefully — for some people, socializing and catching up with family were viewed as risky business. Some grandparents didn’t see their grandkids.

Americans also came to accept labor shortages, understaffed public safety organizations and arm’s-length service. I live in Alexandria, Virginia, where people still can’t walk into the vets’ office with their pet. You have to wait in your car for a staffer to take Fluffy in to see the vet, and then return your pet when the exam is over.

It starts off small, then snowballs:

“Somebody stole the electric light bulbs again, from off the
staircase, down where I live. I’ve got a pain in my chest. Couldn’t get any cough
drops this morning, the drugstore on our corner went bankrupt last week. The Texas-Western
Railroad went bankrupt last month. They closed the Queensborough Bridge yesterday
for temporary repairs. Oh well, what’s the use? Who is John Galt?”

There are Trump analogies:

Another, who was a journalist, made a note for future use in his column: “Hank
Rearden is the kind of man who sticks his name on everything he touches. You may,
from this, form your own opinion about the character of Hank Rearden.

There is a push for uniformity in thought and action:

“Disunity,” drawled (villain) James Taggart, “seems to be the basic cause of all social problems. My sister has a certain influence with a certain element among our stockholders. Their disruptive tactics cannot always be defeated.”

And:

When everybody agrees,” Taggart’s voice suddenly went shrill, “when people are unanimous, how does one man dare to dissent? By what right? That’s what I want to know—by what right?”

Also, you get the feeling that the establishment doesn’t really have a clue as to why people aren’t thrilled with those in charge:

“I don’t see why there’s so much fuss about that Equalization of Opportunity Bill,”
said Betty Pope aggressively, in the tone of an expert on economics. “I don’t see
why businessmen object to it. It’s to their own advantage. If everybody else is poor,
they won’t have any market for their goods. But if they stop being selfish and share
the goods they’ve hoarded—they’ll have a chance to work hard and produce some more.”

There’s a lot more where that came from. I’m interesting in learning what readers think. Are we living in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”? Will things get worse or better?

Debra J. Saunders is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership.

Comments welcome.