I know many will say that by now this kind of thing should no longer surprise me, but I must admit, this story still caught me off-guard. Two major (well, perhaps “major” is a bit of hyperbole) news organizations refusing to air commercials, and in the process make money – the supposed purpose of their existence, simply because the movie Atlas Shrugged has a “conservative” bent. Actually all it really stands for, is men standing on their own two feet rather than suckling on the government tit, but somehow that’s become extreme conservatism in this day and age of rampant socialism.
Mind you, this movie contains no violence, that would be fine. No nudity, that would be okay too. It’s not a documentary purporting the benevolence and general greatness of Che Guevera or Stalin – they’d air those commercials for free and probably with glee. Nope, this movie contains none of those things a rational person might find inappropriate. So, what makes it so bad that CNN and MSNBC refuse to even air advertisements for it? Well, you tell me, because I literally can not imagine. Here’s how Wikipedia describes this great American novel…
The book explores a dystopian United States where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. The protagonist, Dagny Taggart, sees society collapse around her as the government increasingly asserts control over all industry (including Taggart Transcontinental, the once mighty transcontinental railroad for which she serves as the Vice President of Operations), while society’s most productive citizens, led by the mysterious John Galt, progressively disappear. Galt describes the strike as “stopping the motor of the world” by withdrawing the “minds” that drive society’s growth and productivity. In their efforts, these people “of the mind” hope to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed, that civilization cannot exist where people are slaves to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society.
Ooooh, scary stuff; let’s organize a book burning party quick before anyone else reads this thing! Of course, I kid. This amazing work should be on every reading list in every American Literature class in the country. It’s a compelling novel, and it’s an even more compelling look at the destructive force of government take-over of society and manipulation of free-markets. So, why then have most have never even heard of it, and why are CNN and MSNBC suppressing advertisements for a movie while claiming to present an unbiased look at news? Something seems queer, doesn’t it? Oh well, “Who is John Galt?”
Have Some Sense 