Atlas Shrugged

I finally finished it. This was a very good book. Her philosophy, Objectivism, is pretty close to what I believe. The story is very intriguing, and even had me a little teary-eyed in some places. Her imagery is wonderful. It is a complete and utter romance with lassez-faire capitalism, with an extremely verbose brain-dump around page 900 that takes quite a while to absorb.

The book is basically a warning to those who wish to be free from the bonds of others. One should be able to live one's life without depending on his betters nor funding his lessers. While the book depicts an extreme failure of the political system, with an extreme economic failure following, it is not too far from what has happened in Russia and many South American countries. Bad investments should not be made on the basis of ‘need,' but rather on the basis of ability and viability, which directly corresponds to credit, which should never be issued to those who are unable to live up to the terms. Businesses should never be run by the government, and economies should never be planned.

Any believer in personal responsibility should read this book.