I never thought that I would ever read anything by Ayn Rand. Although I recognize her support of the free-market, and her important contributions to libertarian theory, I have never been persuaded by the objectivist argument. This is especially true when economists such as Alan Greenspan tried to apply objectivism to value. I have always thought that spending my time continuing my self-education in Austrian economics (given that my education in mainstream economics is already being fulfilled by means of my college career) was more worthwhile. To that end, I have five books that are reading priorities during the next six months. I touched upon these in an earlier blog post, but they are: Prices & Production (well, it’s Prices & Production with other short books on monetary theory by Friedrich Hay
ek), A History of Money and Banking in the United States (Murray Rothbard), The Theory of Credit and Money (Ludwig von Mises), Free Banking (Larry Sechrest) and Making Poor Nations Rich (Benjamin Powell (ed.)). Well, guess what: I have decided to add Ayn Rand’s magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged.
Atlas Shrugged is commonly cited, and seems to have gained popularity since the onset of the recession, so I figure that I might as well get acquainted with it. It is fairly long, and I already have a lot of on my plate, but perhaps it will be worth my time (hopefully!). Depending on when it arrives through the mail, I plan to read it in February, which might mean that I will have to temporarily drop Rothbard’s A History of Money and banking in the United States (unless both prove easier to read than Hayek’s Prices & Production, and so allow me to finish them at a quicker pace [Hayek’s book is poorly written, even if it is of the utmost importance in regards to monetary and capital theory]). Given that Atlas Shrugged is such a popular book, I am bound to get at least one passing visitor who has read the book. Did you enjoy it? What do you believe I should look for? How would I get the most out of the novel? Thank you, in advance (although, I will probably thank you after, as well)!
Apart from Atlas Shrugged, I have a few more books coming through the mail. Recently, I added Where Keynes Went Wrong and Contra Keynes and Cambridge to my personal library of economics books (well, to be fair, at this moment it is a rather small library, but I guarantee that by the end of this year I will break one hundred books). Atlas Shrugged is one of two books in a box set I ordered. The other book is Fountainhead, which I will try to read down the road (much to my chagrin, the dimensions of each book are smaller than I would like, but in a box set it will probably look sufficiently aesthetic on my bookshelf). With the order, to take advantage of free shipping, I also ordered Israel Kirzner’s The Economic Point of View. Finally, I received a coupon for 33% off any Borders item, and so I decided to use it to buy Hayek’s Trend in Economic Thinking (probably too inexpensive of a choice to really use a 33% off coupon, but I wasn’t thinking at the time). So, soon enough, I will add four more books to my shelf, meaning I will have accumulated fifty-seven books on the topic since February 2009.
I also have two new non-economics related books. One of them is Buddy Levy’s Conquistador, which does not look like the best book on the subject, but will do as a primer (it has to do only with Spanish operations against the Aztecs). I am looking forward to focus on Spanish economic history, from the Romans to modern economic history (with special emphasis on the history of the Catholic Kings and the Spanish Empire up to the mid-17th century and then the Franco period). But, this is a long term goal, after I feel satisfied with my general introductory research on basic monetary and capital economic theory (introductory because I will have to re-read the books I am currently reading in the future, in order to truly understand and remember them).
It is a shame that there are too many books to read, and too little time to read them in.
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From her works, it is apparent Ayn Rand admired the courageous pebble-droppers, the nails standing above the boardwalk that ruling elite might trip over, who challenged the established and accepted way things were done. It was the creative, imaginative individuals who followed a dream, a vision of some better way of living that she wrote about, not the socialist taker who envied the creative few even when enjoying the benefits of the pebble-dropper’s efforts. This was her focus. All other ingredients haters add to the interpretation of Ayn Rand’s ideas are simply mud to cloud the water. Whether she was atheist or Jewish, anti-Christian or self-centered means nothing. She believed she was OK and others, as individuals, were potentially OK as well, but herds were led by the few who would limit individuals and take from those who have to share with those who have not, and they and their leaders were not OK. Those who violently oppose Rand are the ones who want to retain the Old World ideals of a few elite ruling the many, as is being reintroduced to America by the Obama forces. Claysamerica.com