"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority ... the Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters." - Noah Webster


"There is no worse tyranny than forcing a man to pay for what he does not want just because you think it would be good for him."
-- Robert A. Heinlein

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Secular Prophetess

If you don't know about Ayn Rand, she escaped the Soviet Union in the 1950s or so, I think.  She grew up experiencing communism in all its horror.  She wrote several novels.  If you want something very short and to the point, read Anthem.  But her big masterpiece is Atlas Shrugged.  I know most people who need to be confronted with the truth contained in that fictional setting are not likely to pick up a 1,000 page tome.

Thank goodness, some folks have finally made the movie, well, the first movie.  Atlas Shrugged: Part 1.  The parallels to what is going on today in real life with what Rand wrote in that novel are amazing.  I don't know if real, die-hard lefties will comprehend how destructive their ideas are by watching this movie, but maybe some of the self-described moderates will get something out of it.  If this movie, and those that follow are faithful to the message of the book, it should be very entertaining and educational.  I'm glad to see from the trailer below that they aren't relying on any well known stars, which might detract from the message.

Rand's big drawback was her atheism.  Her belief in humanism was a bit over the top. But that does not take away from her spot-on description of how the ideals of the left inevitably lead to enslavement of humanity.  She basically took Orwell's Animal Farm and gave it a fully fleshed out venue in the real world.  If you can, take the time to read the book.  I hope the movie causes people to want to do that.

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