Ayn Rand’s Classic “Atlas Shrugged” 50 Years Old

Titans of business tend to have similar personalities. They’re the men and women often described as “Type A” or “alpha.” They’re aggressive, indefatigable, confident (bordering on cocky) and they get things done. As it turns out, they often turn to the same sources for reading material as well. Ask a dozen business leaders and entrepreneurs what some of the books are that have inspired them and you’ll likely hear responses repeated - The Art of War, The Prince and, of course, Ayn Rand’s classic Atlas Shrugged.

The latter, in fact, is being celebrated as its 50th anniversary arrives this month and a feature in Inc. Magazine indicates just how much Rand’s seminal work has influenced generations of business leaders. From the article:

The novel recounts a battle for–as oxymoronic as it sounds–the soul of the U.S. economy. On one side are the “producers,” who use brain or brawn to invent, to create wealth and change the world. On the other side are “looters” and “moochers”: academics, government officials, and underachievers seeking to live off the sweat of others. The plot turns on efforts by dauntless railroad executive Dagny Taggart and her lover, the resolute industrialist Henry Rearden, to keep their empires afloat while the enemies of progress thwart them at every turn. Meanwhile, the nation’s most talented individuals are mysteriously disappearing, lured by enigmatic visionary John Galt to Colorado, where they withhold their talents from a society they see as hopelessly corrupt.

For those who have read the book, it likely resonates with you, and if you’re a business leader, you likely know all too well the role the government can play in your business, i.e. - getting in the way at every turn. Rand, born in socialist Russia, is anti-government interference, anti-collectivism and “anti-lazy.”

What does this have to do with employment? Well, glad you asked. I think that point is best illustrated by the comments in the article of David Morrison, founder of Twentysomething, when he says:

Am I responsible for my people? Without question. But at the end of the day, they are responsible for generating superior product to keep a job at this company. The company doesn’t exist to put food on their plates.

I think that states things fairly well. One interesting point that Rand makes in her novel is the concept of employers’ reponsibility to their workers. The heroes of Atlas Shrugged treat their employees with dignity and respect, rewarding competence and ingenuity at every turn. What they don’t tolerate, however, are the “moochers” and the lazy. Rand also suggests that the concept of a strike is outrageous and notes that turning the tables may best illustrate why employers, and not employees, are at the heart of all innovation and progress.

What would happen, Rand asks, if all employers suddenly decided to go on strike? Where would employees then turn to earn money to buy the necessities such as food, shelter and other essential services? I think this concept, more than any other, sheds light on the relationship between employer and employee. This is not a blanket judgment, but merely an observation of how truly shortsighted labor leaders can, at times, be.

Rand’s book is not without its detractors, of course, and labor leaders themselves are unlikely to be fans (of course, they’re ripped apart so eloquently by Rand that she has essentially rendered any arguments they may present as moot before they even open their mouths). Arianna Huffington, author of Pigs at the Trough, notes, “Obviously the high priestess of free enterprise never met the men of Enron, Adelphia, and WorldCom.”

Not that Rand needs another defender, but from her comments it appears that Huffington didn’t carefully read Atlas Shrugged. It is the men of Enron, Adelphia, Worldcom, et al that make Rand’s work so relevant today. Those modern day thieves were lampooned almost 50 years before their transgressions in Atlas Shrugged, where their fictional counterparts had names like Orren Boyle and James Taggart. They are, in fact, the very “moochers” that Rand detested. But like many great thinkers, Rands ideas do inspire such vitriol, and those ideas are often dismissed without being understood. More’s the pity for the modern business leader.

Tags: art of war, atlas shrugged, ayn rand, entrepreneurs, inc. magazine, libertairanism, the prince

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