'Atlas,' at last, on map

[Ed Hudgins]

The Washington Times on October 5th featured a major piece on page 2 on Atlas Shrugged and on The Atlas Society's 50th anniversary celebration. Lots of nice photos. Check it out! -- Ed

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'Atlas,' at last, on map

October 5, 2007

By Robert Stacy McCain - The famous question remains pertinent a half-century later: "Who is John Galt?" In 1957, Ayn Rand introduced a generation of readers to Galt, the reclusive engineer whose radical pro-capitalist stance brings a socialist government to its knees.

Mixing romance, mystery, science fiction and philosophy, "Atlas Shrugged" has since fascinated millions with its epic tale of railroad heiress Dagny Taggart, who struggles against greedy union bosses, incompetent management and corrupt bureaucrats until her encounter with the refugees of "Galt's Gulch" enlightens her to the true nature of the "anti-life" forces that oppose the entrepreneurial spirit.

The novel's 50th anniversary will be celebrated tomorrow at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel with a daylong conference culminating in a gala banquet featuring John Stossel ofABCNews, who says he was "stunned" when he read "Atlas Shrugged" at age 40.

Rand "stunned me for how she could know thingsthathad taken me 20 years of reporting to see," Mr.Stossel said. "I had already come to the conclusion that competition makes capitalism just. I discovered this as a consumer reporter. ... Competition protects consumers far better than regulation.

"What I got from Ayn Rand was how she describes the chilling and creepy way regulators work."

The golden anniversary of the novel comes at a time when Rand's fans are excited at the prospect of a major motion picture adaptation of "Atlas Shrugged," with Angelina Jolie announced for the starring role of Dagny Taggart.

"It's as close as the book has ever come to being filmed," said Edward Hudgins, executive director of the Atlas Society, which is hosting tomorrow's event.

Over the decades, repeated efforts to bring "Atlas Shrugged" to the screen have failed, Mr. Hudgins noted, but this project now has all the elements of a blockbuster — a studio (Lion's Gate), producers (Howard and Karen Baldwin, who produced an Oscar-winner, "Ray," the biography of singer Ray Charles), a director (Vadim Perlman, who directed "House of Sand and Fog"), a script (by Randall Wallace of "Braveheart" fame) and a marquee name in Miss Jolie.

However, one question mark remains.

"Who is John Galt? That is indeed the question," Mr. Hudgins said of speculation about who will portray the mysterious inventor who decides to "stop the motor of the world" by leading a strike against bureaucratic "looters." No leading man has yet been named for the film, although Hollywood gossip has centered on Miss Jolie's real-life leading man, Brad Pitt.

While Miss Jolie is not known to share the libertarian views dramatized in the Rand novel, Mr. Hudgins says the story has an appeal that transcends politics.

"First of all, I think that Angelina Jolie understands what an incredible role Dagny Taggart offers for any actress," he said. "She's an actress looking for a new challenge, and for her this is a great challenge. ... One of the messages of 'Atlas Shrugged' is to do what you love in life."

While Rand's fans await the long-delayed film version of "Atlas Shrugged," the novel itself continues to exercise a powerful influence — a 1991 survey by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Library of Congress ranked it second only to the Bible in terms of its effect on readers. Earlier this week, the paperback edition of "Atlas Shrugged" ranked No. 175 in sales at Amazon.com, putting it above many recent best-sellers.

"This is a book that has sold millions of copies," Mr. Hudgins said. "It still sells in the hundreds of thousands each year."

The novel is almost universally cited as an influence among leading free-market advocates, said Brian Doherty, author of "Radicals for Capitalism: A History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement."

"Pretty much everyone who got active from the 1950s on has had an encounter with, and galvanizing by, Rand at the root of whatever they've gone on to accomplish in spreading ideas about free markets and free minds in academia or politics," said Mr. Doherty, a senior editor at Reason magazine.

Yet the influence of "Atlas Shrugged" has not been fully acknowledged, Mr. Doherty said, in part because Rand and her novel "have been the object of so much hostility and mockery from the 'proper' thinkers of the world that it takes a Howard Roarkesque level of self-assurance" — a reference to the architect who is the hero of "The Fountainhead," Rand's first novel — "to talk about affection for, and inspiration from, Rand publicly."

He adds that Rand's "famed hostility to what she considered any nonrationally chosen value, such as religion and fealty to the family, means that conservatives who share her commitment to economic and personal liberty also tend to avoid talking about her positively."

Still, Rand's philosophy has many well-known admirers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who was a personal friend of the Russian-born author before her death in 1982. Mr. Greenspan contributed an essay to Rand's 1966 collection, "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal."

Another prominent admirer, Mr. Hudgins said, is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who "used to have his interns read 'The Fountainhead.' " Her influence extends to the halls of Congress, where Rand's admirers include Rep. Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, and Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce, California Republicans.

"Part of the reason why Rand has been so influential is that she presented her ideas in a novel," Mr. Hudgins said. "It's one thing to read a dry philosophical treatise. It's another thing to read an exciting story where those ideas are told through characters and action."

That influence has gained a new life on the Internet. Pamela Geller's blog, "Atlas Shrugs" (AtlasShrugs2000.typepad.com), is named in tribute to Rand, whom she calls "the greatest philosopher in human history."

"I read the book in my early 20s when a close friend of mine whom I respected enormously casually mentioned it was her favorite book," said Mrs. Geller, a New Yorker.

"My blog is, and its purpose is, clearly defined by Rand's philosophy," she said, quoting John Galt's line from the novel: "The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. Withdraw your sanction."