| | I want to begin by writing a piece of fiction. Part of it you may recognize as a paraphrase of a passage in Atlas Shrugged (Part I, Chapter 7, Second sequence)
Dagny sat in the taxi, looking out at the crumbling world around her, dreading what she was about to do, and trying to ignore the babble of platitudes and requests for agreement coming from her brother.
She was on the way to defend an idea strongly held -- a philosophy that had guided her life for as long as she had conscious convictions about anything at all. Indeed, she thought, "strongly held" is too weak for the level of conviction she brought to its defense. She did not formulate the philosophy, she could not claim it as her own, like the railroad. But she had studied it assiduously, made it part of her life and wore it now with the same casual pride with which she wore the gown she had chosen for this occasion.
She was mildly concerned that the event was sponsored by an organization that called itself SOAR, an acronym for Save Our American Railroads. As far as she had been able to determine in the few spare moments she had been able to give to researching it, the organization had no firm convictions about how to achieve its purpose beyond "we just love railroads, don't you?" and lots of debate about the various proposals that floated through the hot air that permeated the atmosphere in Washington.
But tonight, she thought, tonight would be an exception. Tonight SOAR wanted to hear her views, and she was ready. She had prepared a talk, a detailed argument for the necessity of grounding any effort to save the railroads in an unbreachable hands-off policy. She would argue that the owners of the railroads possessed the necessary interest in and the knowledge required to save them. If that were not enough, nothing could work, and the country might as well let them die a natural death. The title of her talk was "Saving the American Railroad: Ayn Rand's Case for Laissez-faire."
She thought of the pile of papers that she had left behind, unfinished, on her desk. She should be there, in her office, saving her railroad. If she could do that, perhaps the dreary scene outside her window would change. But she knew that the threat of government involvement was an ever-present enemy of everything she valued. Ninety minutes for her talk and a Q&A and she could return to work.
The presence of James, his insistence on accompanying her, troubled her as well. His attitude toward the ideas she supported was negative. He gave some lip service to "free-enterprise" and was willing to listen to her ideas, but his constant mantra was "what if they're right?" She sometimes believed that he wouldn't be able to select a tie if it weren't for the servants that he gathered around him.
He sat silently next to her, uncharacteristically thoughtful. They had gone a few more feet in the rush hour traffic when he said, "You'd better do a good job of defending Ayn Rand, because Manny Rubenstein can get pretty sarcastic."
"Manny Rubenstein?"
"He's going to be one of the speakers tonight."
"One of the . . . You didn't tell me there were going to be other speakers."
"Well . . . I . . . What difference does it make? You're not afraid of him, are you?"
"I'm giving a talk that involves my support of Ayn Rand . . . and you invite Manny Rubenstein?"
"Why not? Don't you think it's smart? He doesn't have any hard feelings against Objectivism, not really. He accepted the invitation. We want to be broad-minded and hear all sides and maybe win him over . . . Well, what are you staring at? You'll be able to beat him, won't you?"
" . . . to beat him?"
"On the air. It's going to be a radio broadcast. You're going to debate with him the question: 'Is the Ayn Rand cult the way to save the railroads?'"
"Stop the car," she said.
"But why?"
"You goddamn fool, do you think I consider their question debatable?"
So much for fiction. Here are the facts. I have decided to stop the car and get out. I am asking Lindsey to remove my name from the membership roles.
I asked a couple of you last week what you were doing here. I thought I ought to ask myself the same thing.
If I was passing wind or engaging in lonely self stimulation, loving the sound of my own voice, then I needed to leave.
And if I was trying to convert anyone, I was wasting my time. There are much better minds than mine making the case for Objectivism, for Ayn Rand and for ARI. It is their career and not mine, even if my mind is every bit as good as theirs. If you are not convinced by those who have made Objectivism their life work, anything I have to say is not going to do the job.
I have said my piece. Agree or disagree. It's no longer my problem.
Some of you will understand and agree and may choose to join me in leaving. Others of you will stay on in the vain hope that this is the place to make a difference. Others will take advantage of this post to press your case that I am an unthinking Ayn Rand groupie, a cultist beyond redemption.
For those who understand and those who hope, I wish you well. If you sanctioned anything I said, I thank you. For the rest, make whatever you want of this. Frankly, guys and gals, I don't give a damn.
Have at it!
Tom
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