Atlas Shrugged is a compelling novel about the detrimental effects that altruism can have on a society: the belief that the common good takes precedence over individual needs. On paper, this concept sounds lovely; everyone coming together to provide for each other. Everyone living together in harmony.
No two people are equal, not even family members -- ever. Already altruism has sold you a lie: that anything you can do, I can do (equally, never better~). Altruism has made you believe that excelling in certain things is considered to be a terrible thing, because in order to achieve it, you are absolutely depriving others of "what's theirs," despite the fact that it was never theirs to begin with!
We, as a society, used to believe in the value of hard work. We used to value any contribution, regardless of how small the effort or how capable one was. We used to recognize that people have strengths and weaknesses, and we acted accordingly.
Now that our values have changed, so has society. Virtues have been turned into vices. People believe that they are entitled to everything. But if everyone is entitled without having to contribute, where is it all coming from? Ahyuck, the government?!
We are only entitled due to someone else's vision and labor. The farmer who works 14 hours a day to ensure that the rest of the country has food. The construction worker who built the entire infrastructure of your city, sewage pipes and all. The scientist who is finding ways to improve your quality of life. The inventor who has made your life more convenient.
"His billions should be given back to the community, where it belongs!" "That factory is SUCH an eyesore..." "He could only do it because he's able-bodied; some of us don't have that privilege."
Atlas Shrugged warns us that the downfall of man will be by envy -- envy of morals, of money, of achievements, of joy, of popularity... Human nature's inability to judge inward causes them to seek external validation, which only amplifies the problem. And so, like a leech, they take and take from its host until it's bled dry, only to repeat the process with a different host. Never addressing the problem. Only delaying the inevitable...
They cannot take if there is nothing to offer. The problem is, men of value always have something to give. People will take simply because you are good -- your spirit is the most precious thing they wish to take from you, to destroy. Goodness causes them to reflect on their own nature, and they get VERY upset when they realize that they do not have any. The easiest solution is to rid the rest of the world of it, just so it never has to be looked at again.
You can choose to be angry with me, if you'd like. My reality is, I was homeless for a good portion of a year. Despite the fact I was once a trump card for one side, I was immediately villainized for having made it out, for getting clean, because I no longer represented the scapegoat, the black sheep. Proving that not once was it ever about "empathy" for the homeless; just virtue signaling. "Look, I'm a good person, I fight on behalf of the beaten down!" All lies.
There is important symbolism in Atlas Shrugged: Wyatt's Torch. A well of burning oil that refuses to let itself burn out. It continues to burn, long after the collapse of society.
I was burning during the COVID "pandemic." I was burning during the homeless crisis. I am burning as my country is gutted from the inside out, and I will continue to burn long after its destruction.
