Ayn Rand’s clasÂsic gets dustÂed off and humorÂousÂly brought into 2008 over at McSweeney’s. Worth a read.
As a side note, you may want to revisÂit the New York Times 2007 piece, Ayn Rand’s LitÂerÂaÂture of CapÂiÂtalÂism, which talks about the influÂence that Atlas Shrugged (and its free marÂket phiÂlosÂoÂphy) has had on ForÂtune 500 CEOs and parÂticÂuÂlarÂly Alan Greenspan, the forÂmer head of the FedÂerÂal Reserve, who helped archiÂtect the deregÂuÂlatÂed bankÂing sysÂtem that’s now unwindÂing around us. BelatÂedÂly, Greenspan would acknowlÂedge a “flaw in the modÂel” that he “perÂceived is the critÂiÂcal funcÂtionÂing strucÂture that defines how the world works” — which is a fanÂcy way of sayÂing “on secÂond thought, maybe the free marÂkets don’t always regÂuÂlate themÂselves.” And there we have it, anothÂer utopiÂan ideÂolÂoÂgy colÂlides with realÂiÂty. Not the first, and it won’t be the last.
