Back in the prosperous Fifties, a time that seems so far away now, Ayn Rand wrote a novel which became a cult classic, "Atlas Shrugged." It is a sort of economic "Left Behind" novel, in which all the wealthy people start disappearing with all their money and what happens when they do.
Well, I think we have been living "Atlas Shrugged" the last few decades, what with all the downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, layoffs, whatever you want to call it, that has been going on. There may not be a John Galt playing Pied Piper, and Rand certainly failed to foresee the technological revolution, but if you want to understand what is happening, read "Atlas Shrugged."
One of the things Rand did get right is the social chaos that followed the withdrawal of all the wealth and jobs. It's too early to see if the Occupy movements that have been springing up are going to be anything more than just a flash in the pan, but there is certainly a lot of anger and frustration out there, and that is the stuff revolutions are made of. Think France in 1789. Or Russia in 1917. Some historians are saying that the US came pretty close to that kind of thing back in the early 1930's before FDR took charge; I don't know, but I do know that the 1960's were not the only decade of social unrest this country has ever seen. Winter is coming now, and that might dampen the Occupiers' ardor for protesting for awhile, but I don't think they are going to go away.
Well, I think we have been living "Atlas Shrugged" the last few decades, what with all the downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, layoffs, whatever you want to call it, that has been going on. There may not be a John Galt playing Pied Piper, and Rand certainly failed to foresee the technological revolution, but if you want to understand what is happening, read "Atlas Shrugged."
One of the things Rand did get right is the social chaos that followed the withdrawal of all the wealth and jobs. It's too early to see if the Occupy movements that have been springing up are going to be anything more than just a flash in the pan, but there is certainly a lot of anger and frustration out there, and that is the stuff revolutions are made of. Think France in 1789. Or Russia in 1917. Some historians are saying that the US came pretty close to that kind of thing back in the early 1930's before FDR took charge; I don't know, but I do know that the 1960's were not the only decade of social unrest this country has ever seen. Winter is coming now, and that might dampen the Occupiers' ardor for protesting for awhile, but I don't think they are going to go away.
