A lot of people have written about how prophetic they now see Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. It is the reason it is climbing up Amazon's best seller's list and selling better now than it ever has.

Is it Prophetic? I hope not. I hope it proves to be more of a cautionary tale. A warning that we have made a wrong turn that hopefully we will see before it is too late.

Read this brief quote from the novel and keep in mind the recent Federal uproar over AIG and the efforts by the current administration to acquire the power to seize control over the entire financial industry. You can read the whole speech on the meaning and value of money here.

"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that is does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot."

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 08:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment