"Hope and Change!" "Yes We Can!" "Gimmee Money!"
To hell with that noise. For real change I prefer, "Who is John Galt?"
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand has long been a kind of manifesto for Libertarians. It is a masterful and brilliant 500-page epic done in 1,000 pages:) Still, everyone should read it once in their lifetime, which is about how long it took me to read it.
All joking aside, you really need to read it. At the time it was written, 1957, it was inconceivable that America wouldn't even have a railroad or steel industry, but I guess one could argue that we still do, even though there are only two foundries left who can make armor quality steel. At any rate, the political and social aspects of the book are terrifying spot on. When I read parts of it, a chill went down my spine as I could have been reading today's headlines (and the real story behind the headlines). I put it up there with my other rebellious/libertarian/anarchist/anti-establishment favorite books and movies such as Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm, Unintended Consequences, Catch-22, About Face, V for Vendetta, The Matrix, (the Mel Gibson one, not the Stephen Seagal one, eh) and Braveheart & The Patriot, and Annotated Minutes of the Italian Parliament.
The question is, can the left-wing kook capital of the world, Hollyweird, pull this off without screwing it up eight ways from Tuesday and turning it into an anti-Atlas Shrugged, making it just another Socialist/Communist/Multi-Cultural Propaganda wet dream. You know, like Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears where they didn't dare portray terrorists as Muslims and instead substituted the ridiculous hackneyed old "Fourth Reich Nazis Hiding Underground Since 1945" boogie-man. On the plus side, talk was originally bandied about of Angelina Jolie being involved and/or playing the main character, Dagney Taggart. Apparently, she is out of the picture, which bodes well for less Socialism and more freedom in the movie.
There doesn't seem to be much detailed information on producer/financier John Aglialoro or director Paul Johansson. It's probably too much to hope for that they're a couple of Hollyweird's underground conservatives who are coming out of the closet, the next John Milius and Mel Gibson. But hey, I can dream, can't I?
Something that gives me a spark of hope is that they're planning to release Part I (of III) on April 15th of this year, a date every taxpayer knows oh so well, indicating a delightfully wicked sense of humor and/or making a statement. Of course, even if the movie is a good portrayal of the book, and opens sheeple eyes, it's still about ten years too late to salvage our Republic and its economy.
We shall see. If the usual leftist Hollyweird movie critics lambaste Atlas, I will immediately be out to door to go see it on such an iron-clad recommendation.
In case they do screw it up, here's a brief excerpt from the real Atlas Shrugged, so you'll know what it's supposed to be.
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
We shall see. If the usual leftist Hollyweird movie critics lambaste Atlas, I will immediately be out to door to go see it on such an iron-clad recommendation.
In case they do screw it up, here's a brief excerpt from the real Atlas Shrugged, so you'll know what it's supposed to be.
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
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