Atlas Shrugged, Part 2 Chapter 3: White Blackmail
Summary: Rearden sends Lillian off, and then spent the night with Dagny. He returns to find Lillian, who does not want a divorce. Dr. Ferris came to Rearden for his Metal, threatening jail for his crime with Ken Danagger. Eddie Willers tells John Galt about Danagger, who Dagny visits with briefly as he quits. Rearden meets with d’Anconia and learns about Atlas, and the sees the playboy in action.
Start by reading the first-tier comments, which are all quotes of Ayn Rand (some of my favorites, some just important for other reasons). Comment on your favorite ones, or others' comments. Don't see your favorite quote? Post it in a new comment. Please reserve new comments for Ayn Rand, and your non-Rand quotes for "replies" to the quotes or discussion. (Otherwise Rand's quotes will get crowded out and pushed down into oblivion. You can help avoid this by "voting up" the Rand quotes, or at least the ones you especially like, and voting down first-tier comments that are not quotes of the featured book.)
Atlas Shrugged was written by Ayn Rand in 1957.
My idea for this post is discussed here:
http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...
Start by reading the first-tier comments, which are all quotes of Ayn Rand (some of my favorites, some just important for other reasons). Comment on your favorite ones, or others' comments. Don't see your favorite quote? Post it in a new comment. Please reserve new comments for Ayn Rand, and your non-Rand quotes for "replies" to the quotes or discussion. (Otherwise Rand's quotes will get crowded out and pushed down into oblivion. You can help avoid this by "voting up" the Rand quotes, or at least the ones you especially like, and voting down first-tier comments that are not quotes of the featured book.)
Atlas Shrugged was written by Ayn Rand in 1957.
My idea for this post is discussed here:
http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...
“I… don’t know. What … could he do? What would you tell him?”
“To shrug.”
“Don’t I have good reason to be?”
“But, after all, I did break one of your laws.”
“Well, what do you think they’re for?”
Dr. Ferris did not notice the sudden look on Rearden’s face, the look of a man hit by the first vision of that which he had sought to see. Dr. Ferris was past the stage of seeing; he was intent upon delivering the last blows to an animal caught in a trap.
“Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them broken…. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there is that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt.”
But this has to be at the discretion of the property owner. It is not mercy if gleaning is a right owed. It is not charity if it is coerced by the Government. Any gift must be at the voluntary decision of the property owner. When the poor and needy claim that they deserve our penny as a right, that is the problem.
“Yes,” said Rearden, his voice low.
“Then if you were punished, instead – what sort of code have you accepted?”
Rearden did not answer.
“You will not believe it and I will not explain, but I am not deserting you."
“We’re being left to carry a greater burden, and you’re indifferent to the knowledge that you’ll see us destroyed by the looters.”
“Don’t be too sure of that.”
“Of which? Your indifference or our destruction?”
“Of either.”
“But you know, you knew it this morning, that it’s a battle to the death, and it’s we – you were one – against the looters.”
“If I answer that I know it, but you don’t – you’ll think that I attach no meaning to my words. So take it as you wish, but that is my answer.”
“Will you tell me the meaning?”
“No. It’s for you to discover.”
“You’re willing to give up the world to the looters. We aren’t.”
“Don’t be too sure of either.”
Also, "it's we....against the looters"? That's not correct grammar. Or am I losing it?
“Oh!” said Dagny, relieved.
“He came in unannounced and asked to see Mr. Danagger and said that this was an appointment which Mr. Danagger had made with him forty years ago.”
“How old is Mr. Danagger?”
“Fifty-two,” said the secretary. She added reflectively, in the tone of a casual remark, “Mr. Danagger started working at the age of twelve.”
How old was she when she came to the US? Maybe someone who is better versed on her life story can give us some insight here on what 12 years, or just the number 12 might mean to her.
Many of my friends feel the same. Others, far from it. They won't even notice if they are 15 or 30 minutes late. Other cultures are different, routinely postponing "schedules" by an hour or more. I just don't understand that.
I feel similar about deadlines. I prefer to beat deadlines by several days if possible. some of my co-workers (and even supervisors) seem to practically have a phobia about sending out a product before the last minute.