But if we go by what Rand wrote, it's obvious Scott Willers did not go along with the looters and was horrified by their actions. He is devastated when he realized Dagny had disappeared. Unlike Dagny, Francisco, Reardon, etc., Willers is not given the option of joining the strike. The industrialists aren't just told of it; they are lobbied to join, but no one even mentions the possibility to Willard, in spite of the fact that his beliefs are in line with Dagny's, and he behaves no differently than she with regard to dealing with the looters.
However, it's not so much about whether or not the strike is justified in the Randian universe, but whether Rand allows me to suspend disbelief enough to accept her universe. Since she isn't just writing a novel, she's elucidating a philosophy, she has to convince me her philosophy is right or at least reasonable to justify the strike.
Since I, personally, cannot divorce the work from it's historical context (as a critique and response to Socialism), it becomes impossible for me to accept the Objectivist universe. I think the world is full of contradictions; I know for a fact people who hold leftist political beliefs are not "looters" nor are they unwilling to work hard. I don't accept the elevation of selfishness to a virtue; I don't buy the idea that altruism is motivated by either selfishness or fear, and I don't think things like welfare or income taxes are akin to stealing. I have to at least be able to believe that the accomplishments of Dagny, Francisco and Reardon were the result of their own, personal merit, and I don't, particularly in the case of Dagny and Francisco.
What is interesting to me about AS is that Rand seems oblivious to the fact that her protagonists feel just as entitled to the labor of others as their antagonists. They all completely ignore the contributions other people (and the state for that matter) have made to their success, just as they don't recognize the benefits they will directly or indirectly derive from contributing to something beyond their own, personal gratification.
Personally, I don't feel it's a kindness for Galt, et al. to return to society and establish a fascist utopia, and I think it's significant that Dagny's first act as part of this strike is to kill a man and feel absolutely nothing.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: I See What You Mean
Date: 2008-06-26 08:16 pm (UTC)However, it's not so much about whether or not the strike is justified in the Randian universe, but whether Rand allows me to suspend disbelief enough to accept her universe. Since she isn't just writing a novel, she's elucidating a philosophy, she has to convince me her philosophy is right or at least reasonable to justify the strike.
Since I, personally, cannot divorce the work from it's historical context (as a critique and response to Socialism), it becomes impossible for me to accept the Objectivist universe. I think the world is full of contradictions; I know for a fact people who hold leftist political beliefs are not "looters" nor are they unwilling to work hard. I don't accept the elevation of selfishness to a virtue; I don't buy the idea that altruism is motivated by either selfishness or fear, and I don't think things like welfare or income taxes are akin to stealing. I have to at least be able to believe that the accomplishments of Dagny, Francisco and Reardon were the result of their own, personal merit, and I don't, particularly in the case of Dagny and Francisco.
What is interesting to me about AS is that Rand seems oblivious to the fact that her protagonists feel just as entitled to the labor of others as their antagonists. They all completely ignore the contributions other people (and the state for that matter) have made to their success, just as they don't recognize the benefits they will directly or indirectly derive from contributing to something beyond their own, personal gratification.
Personally, I don't feel it's a kindness for Galt, et al. to return to society and establish a fascist utopia, and I think it's significant that Dagny's first act as part of this strike is to kill a man and feel absolutely nothing.