Atlas Shrugged

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Atlas Shrugged (ISBN 0451191145) is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the USA.

Philosophy and writing

The theme of Atlas Shrugged is the role of the mind in life and society. Rand argues that independent thinking, creativity and inventiveness that comes from this, is the motor that runs the world. In Atlas Shrugged she shows what she thinks would happen to the world if the "men of the mind" went on strike: the motor of the world would shut down and civilization would fall apart. The book has its roots entirely in Objectivism, the systematic philosophy pioneered by Rand.

Rand suggests that a society will stagnate to the extent that independence and individual achievement are discouraged or demonized. Inversely, a society will become more prosperous as it allows, encourages, and rewards independence and individual achievement. Rand believed that independence flourishes to the extent that people are free, and that achievement is most fairly rewarded when private property is strictly observed. She advocated laissez-faire capitalism as the political system she believed to be the most consistent with these beliefs. These considerations make Atlas Shrugged a highly political book, especially in its portrayal of socialism and communism as fundamentally flawed.

Rand also argues that traits like independence and individual achievement, which currently drive the world, are actually virtues, and in her worldview are central to a "rational" moral code. She strongly disputes the notion that self-sacrifice is a virtue, and is similarly dismissive of human faith in a god, higher being and indeed any form of mysticism. The book itself addresses