Hello everyone, Brand new here. I don't remember who gave it to me but I read Atlas Shrugged about 10 years ago. I enjoyed the book but didn't really understand a lot of it. I could identify with a lot of ideas in the book but I was sort of like Hank Reardon in that I had sort of a mixed philosophy. I was always one to think about the big questions in life. As a young boy in church I was always asking inconvenient questions like who was cain's wife and were there dinosaurs on the ark. I have always considered myself a conservative and have always thought differently than most other people. I was shocked in 2005 when watching coverage of hurricane Katrina that rather than feel sympathy for the people angrily demanding help I felt revulsion instead. I re-read Atlas Shrugged shortly after that and this time it caused me to examine every one of my premises. I tried my best to find flaws and contradictions in the ideas in that book because they clashed with so much that I had been taught in church and in school and one by one I was forced to accept them all. I could find no contradictions. I have been on a mission for the last 5 years to seek out and destroy every contradiction in my own beliefs. I work alone in a woodworking shop so I have lots of time to think. I have read almost all of Ayn Rand's books multiple times and more and more I am truly amazed at the level of complete integration in her ideas and the lack of contradictions. I have always been an Objectivist on a subconscious, "sense of life" level. Ms. Rand gave me "the words I needed" to become one consciously. I found many errors in my thinking that I had accepted without question, mostly because I thought that that was what I was supposed to think. I can identify with the character of Hank Reardon as he slowly realizes his own errors in thinking and finally sees the light. That happened to me and I had such a feeling of peace come over me, like a huge weight had been lifted off. Suddenly a lot of things that had puzzled me all my life about some of my fellow human beings finally made complete sense. I understood why I felt revulsion at some of the Katrina refugees. I still have a lot to learn but at least I know that what I know is right. I can say with certainty that I know the meaning and the purpose of life. I will forever be in debt to Ayn Rand.
