He was hastening the end, but I doubt he'd lead an anti-thought, anti-freedom socialist movement to make it happen today. That bunch would be anathema to him, like backing Biden for President to meet his goals. The mere thought of someone like JG using those methods makes me sick. He wouldn't stop them because the chaos they create will move things along, but to actively work with them, no. Dan Conway gave up to have his last few years in bitter peace (there's a near oxymoron for you). I can't imagine you retiring that way, jb.

I liked the trilogy movies pretty well. They Grokked the basic theme, at least. It's a tough nut to crack for the relatively shallow puddle that is Film. To really go at "Atlas Shrugged" one would need to go multiple season streaming style series. Maybe Netflix would be interested? Ha!
Might have to be totally independent, Atlas Shrugged Dot TV and just lay it out there. Monetizing it might be possible now. The tools are finally here to get it done. The Star Wars Triple Trilogy method might also work, spun out over a decade or so. Maybe Disney? Naw. There is just a lot of material. Trying to keep it PG-13 is my only real complaint about the Movie Trilogy which does not lend a very Randian Vibe. Amazon might do OK at a production. Although, they just turned Bosch into an anti-Libertarian screed this season.

"Undermining" is a broad term not specifying how. Galt didn't destroy private property, he withdrew support by persuading the best minds to stop helping their own destruction. Even Ragnar targeted only looters.

The theme of the novel was the role of the mind in human life, illustrated by showing what happens when it is withdrawn. To show that in the accelerated, fictional plot, Galt deliberately set out to bring down the corrupt society through the best minds not helping it, getting the evil mindlessness out of the way by collapsing its coercive power, so that the rational could produce and live.

That isn't practical or even possible in reality as a means, and Ayn Rand did not advocate it. As a tactic "strikers" would barely be noticed if at all, and to the extent it had an effect it would only make things worse -- much worse if the economy and political system were to actually collapse. It is not a way to a better world; without the required general acceptance of the proper philosophic principles employed for guiding actions nothing would change for the better in any kind of recovery.

But in the novel and in reality people should, and do, as individuals refuse to work for their own punishment, which is a different motive, and Ayn Rand did support that, rejecting sacrifice by individuals.

The question is always how much injustice to tolerate in any particular activity, and what else is possible in some other kind of job or career and in what location. Holing up in the wilderness as a way of life is not practical, and neither is an attempt at a secret utopian society.

A couple or four hours into this, it is starting to sound like prophecy. Looters, Moochers. The answer to the question, "Who Is John Galt?" I almost feel like he is out there. Today.

Good question, but I would like to think that John Galt is more likely to push back by persuasion than by rioting. He was certainly persuasive in his very long address.to the American people. I always thought that he was a champion of the rule of law.

"Withdrawing the motor of the world" is something I can support. Actively undermining producers, both now in 2020 and in Atlas Shrugged, is something I can't support.

It is in John Galt's self-interest to see the current world implode on itself, so that he can pick up the pieces. Does that justify undermining Taggart Transcontinental? That is a tough question.

There is another one entitled The Art of Nonfiction. There is some overlap between them, particularly on the role of the subconscious in the writing process.

I am going to read The Art of fiction next. I am working on a silly little thing for my on amusement and maybe for family and I want to structure it correctly.

The "last page" was nonfiction in the return of civilization after the Dark Ages.

But the whole plot in Atlas Shrugged was artificially accelerated. If the last page comes again it will be long after your career. Don't start a new company waiting for it. Assess the possibilities and risks now and for the foreseeable future, then choose accordingly what to try.

Why would he want to?

When you read it physically you directly control when to read and focus on the page, at what pace, and when to pause and think. You're not driven by someone else's voice.

The Romantic Manifesto is very important. Among other essays in there pay special attention to "Philosophy and Sense of Life".

A good supplement to The Romantic Manifesto is The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, transcribed from informal lectures she gave to friends in her living room in 1958, a year after publishing Atlas Shrugged. It focuses on the 'mechanics' of writing, reading, the nature of the styles, etc rather than explicitly on philosophy.

Me dino is a conserving conservative. I'm more into restoring than destroying.
Nevertheless, I would strive to undermine and hasten the end of a successful Marxist takeover inflicted by the Antifa and BLM extensions of the Jackass wannabe commie Demonrat Party.

I'm afraid some liberals have already read it...they're using it as a blueprint.

AS should be required reading before anyone can run for public office!

I read it back in November, and for the first time, I noticed how many people SHRUG/SHRUGGED throughout the novel.

I can't tell you how many times I have read it (30+), and I always get something new out of it.

I understand about the audio; audio-books put me to sleep. I had a cassette version (narrated by E. Hermann) back in the late 1990s, and would listen on my commute to work. For whatever reason, I never lost focus and it was short enough a drive to not fall asleep.

As for the movies, no matter how well they were done, I was disappointed with the actors. Most did not fit my mind's picture of the characters based on Rand's description. A few did, but most didn't. Especially when the actor changed from movie to movie.

The book is always better than the film.

I've read it 5 times but its been a few years so I'm due as well, I'll join you.

Yeah, I have very poor mind control. I get a thought and pursue my idea and leave the author but with a book it is still there to come back to. When I am immersed I am not even aware that I am reading and chew up a lot of pages in a short time. Until I am in the right gear, each word is a chore.
I can't get Dagny as a blonde. I painfully see myself as Reardon. I liked the actors in AS I the best and Graham Bissel looked exactly the way I pictured Ellis Wyatt. Even though many people didn't think so I thought Gary Cooper was a really good Roark.

Would there be a world left for them to rebuild?

That's a great question. Was Galt being contradictory when he was actively hastening the end? Antifa is the most anti-thought organization I can think of. I could retire like Dan Conway, but I don't think I could actively hasten the end.

You can also watch part of the plot on CNN.

coaldigger, you and I have the same problem: not being able to focus on the narrated words. I've tried for years and it just doesn't happen. I don't know if there is some training that would remedy this, but as long as I can see, I don't really care. If I lose my vision, it might be a different story. It's also possible that if I lost my vision the switch would be much easier. Hope I never find out.

The other problem I have, specific to AS audio, is that the narration doesn't sound right - at least in the version I listened to. I have a corresponding problem with the movie in that the characters chosen - while I am sure were excellent for their roles - and they did do a good job - just don't look like or sound like the characters I constructed in my head as I was reading, all five times. I'll say, though, that every time I read it again, there is something new and different I notice.

I'm afraid it's just too late for me to "rearrange" my internal vision of this book, and it's the same with The Fountainhead.

Would John Galt be a bullying Antifa thug? Or if born black, would he a Marxist leader of BLM?

Would John Galt have the nerve now to be one of the rioters?

Be careful. While all of the pages before the last page of Atlas Shrugged have historical precedent now, the last page does not, and I seriously doubt the last page will ever become non-fiction. Nonetheless I have started a new company in preparation for when the last page does come.

The end is always so inspiring! "'The road is cleared', said Galt. 'We are going back to the world.'" That optimism amid the havoc and destruction that backwards policies brought the world to; and their eagerness to go rebuild a better world again, really make one feel the triumph and limitless potential of the human spirit.