20

How Prophetic Was 'Atlas Shrugged'

Posted by Zenphamy 10 years ago to Philosophy
165 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

I received this e-mail a couple of days ago. How similar does it strike you as the owner's of John Galt's employer, The 20th Century Motor Co. that caused him to shrug, or remind you of James Taggert? Note the use of the words, 'equal and livable wage', and 'Champion of Change'.

"The White House, Washington
Hi,

I'm Randy, the founder of the Red Hen Baking Company in Middlesex, Vermont.

Our 42 employees are the core of everything we do -- the heart of Red Hen. That is why my wife Liza and I insist on providing paid sick days, an equal and livable wage, health coverage, and other benefits that help everyone balance the work they love with the life they lead. Through these workplace policies, we know we're making our employees more secure, our bakery more productive, and our business more profitable.

It's common sense -- plain and simple. That's why I'm so excited and honored to be at the White House today as a "Champion of Change" for working families. I'll be joining President Obama, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, and other champions of workplace policies to talk about how crucial they are to building a stronger business. This is too important of an issue for anyone to sit on the sidelines. So you should join us, too.

Watch live at the White House today starting at 12:15 p.m. ET to hear what ordinary people are doing to make an extraordinary difference for America's hardworking men and women.

You can join in on the conversation using the hashtag #WorkingFamilyChamps. Whether you're an employer, an employee, a working mom or dad, or brand new to the workforce, your voice can help lift up the challenges millions of working families face and the solutions that will make a difference.

So I'll hope you'll join us live and be a champion for your employees, coworkers, or your community by standing up for common-sense workplace policies.

Because the bottom line is this: Employees that are happy at work perform better. Focusing on policies that make sense for working families has paid dividends for our business. There's no reason more companies across the country can't do the same thing and realize those benefits.

If you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them. I hope you'll join the conversation today.

Thanks,

Randy

Randy George
Middlesex, Vermont"

Can you point to other predictions from AS that are real today?


All Comments


Previous comments...   You are currently on page 6.
  • Posted by Stormi 10 years ago
    Rand was prophetic before AS, look at the simple small "Anthem". Did she not predict that the removal of "I" was coming, as kids in school today hear, "There is no I in team" garbage? Did she not predict the banning of the incandescent light bulb in that same novel, where the bulb was locked away from the people, so they could better control them? She predicted the end of books being available to any but leaders of society, for fear knowledge might set them free via their power to think. She understood what was to come if citizens did not take personal responsibility and use reason in their decision making - at work, at home- in their lives. It was never about altruism for her, it was about being our personal best and allowing others to struggle toward their personal best. This owner seems to care about his employees, but he is on the wrong track when he points to Obama as wanting business to succeed.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I wish the directors of AS movie would do a movie or a series depicting the horrors of Venezuela- right now. THERE is contained what happens when socialism is allowed to continue up to the end. THIS is what our citizens need to see even more than the AS movies. The message needs to be directed at where people live now.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I say that most if not all of their customers care about what THEY get out of the transaction, not the idea that they are paying more than they need to so others can have what he calls a "living wage". What this means is that if a competitor comes along and pays the going rate for labor, he can charge customers less and still afford the freshness and all the customer benefits. I hope that happens for the sake of the customers
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ jdg 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Deliberate stirrers-up of unrest like Obama and Al Sharpton have split the country for their own profit. I hope they're on the mob's target list when the obvious result takes place.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    If $15 an hour is so good and it will raise the living standards so more people can afford to buy your products, then I say $30 would be better !!!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    a living minimum wage, as they call it, just means that all jobs which dont pay enough back to justify what it costs - will simply disappear. Customers just wont be able to buy things that require too much labor cost at that wage rate. Initially prices will be raised, but after a while customers wont want to pay those prices and business volume would drop.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by term2 10 years ago
    Atlas Shrugged was very prophetic. Ayn Rand was pretty good at projecting what would happen in the future based on collectivism.

    Fortunately, we wont hear from this character much more in the future. Competition will kill his business, as it should. Customers will tire of paying for his largesse with his employees and go to his competitors- unless of course he keeps competition out by using political influence.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by coaldigger 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I understand that AR saw all men with the potential to be heroic but I fear that many are just sloths, without reason, without pride, unwilling and unable to take control of their own life. Perhaps evolution did not go far enough to produce dominant numbers of producers. Those that have no philosophy have reached that state by choice, altruism is their default position that they stand behind as protection from reality. Even in her prophecy of collapse, I am afraid she was an optimist.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by khalling 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    that's pretty nuanced and astute of you to recognize. actually it is blue democrat talk-union members and independents. The ones who voted for Reagan.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • -3
    Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years ago
    This is "Republican-accented" writing: "It's common sense -- plain and simple." I wonder if Randy is a Republican, if a Democratic speech writer purposely put Republican-sounding language in the statement, or if my premise that it's "Republican talk" is wrong.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • -1
    Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years ago
    The AS part is that politicians are trying to co-opt the ideas. The idea of giving people things they want, e.g. sick days livable wage, benefits, etc, to get them to do things you want, e.g. build your business, is a very good one. Entrepreneurs like to find customers, investors, manage people, experiment with new systems, sometimes making great money and other times loosing money. Employees want stability, to keep work reasonably confined to set hours, not to have to adjust their budget if they missed a few days b/c of a sick child, not to have to risk their own money in one business that could fail. It's great if both parties come away with what they want. It's unfortunate that politicians try to take credit for it.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Fish 10 years ago
    I didn't see anything similar to the 20th Century company in this. The owners are not forcing anyone on the nonsense of working hard to get paid only 'for the needs'. And if you read carefully, you will see they do this just for self interest: "Through these workplace policies, we know we're making our employees more secure, our bakery more productive, and our business more profitable."
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years ago
    When I first read your comments at the start of the thread, I honestly thought this was a spoof that someone was trying to pull. Most people have heard the story of the little red hen.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_...

    The Little Red Hen is a perfect children's story to teach about Producers vs. Moochers.

    Then I read the rest of your thread, including comments from others and the links to the actual company.

    Are you sure that this company is not set up as a "shrug" company?
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by BeenThere 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    "Rand's prophecy that the US would succumb to human nature.............."

    AR made it very clear that this was not human nature, it was the philosophy of altruism.........she made very clear that man's course is determined by philosophy, that altruism is counter to human nature, thus destructive of man, that the actual science of philosophy had been subjugated by religion and that no rational, non-contradictory, fully consistent with man's nature had been developed..........so she developed Objectivism (by fully identifying her own philosophy) to continue and complete AS.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Herb7734 10 years ago
    Government intrusion into every phase of life, with the blind agreement of the populace.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by $ Radio_Randy 10 years ago
    "what ordinary people are doing to make an extraordinary difference"

    I hope this means voting for the RIGHT people!
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by woodlema 10 years ago
    Here is their website, and their mission. Lets see how long they can stay in business when their primary goal is not profit.

    http://www.redhenbaking.com/

    To produce premium quality breads and pastries with traditional methods and carefully selected high quality ingredients. To do this while striving to minimize our impact on the environment, to support the growers and producers of our ingredients, and to provide the finest baked goods and service to our customers.

    We achieve the above by:

    Marketing our baked goods within 100 miles of the bakery and providing daily delivery to stores and restaurants within that area.

    Operating a café that is an outlet for our baked goods, provides a range of high quality food and beverages for take-home sale, and functions as a community space for meetings, art and music shows, and other special events.

    Honoring the employees that are at the core of everything we do and fostering a work environment of mutual respect and open communication.

    Profiting from this work and using that resource to contribute to the betterment of our employees and the community.

    I will say however, that this is THEIR business and they are certainly FREE to use what profits they earn any way they choose. The sad part is Obama wants to FORCE everyone to serve at the behest of others against their own free will.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • 11
    Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 10 years ago
    What does a buzz word like 'working family' even mean? The same with 'living wage'. They are so vague. I can say my living wage is $150K a year because I have to support my horses, my $70K truck, the $30K horse trailer and my McMansion.

    She was a prophet. She saw the ground work that was being laid and knew what the end result looked like. Atlas Shrugged was a warning that went unheeded.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • 10
    Posted by DrZarkov99 10 years ago
    Sorry, but my mind went straight to Sessue Hayakawa's line from Bridge on the River Kwai, "we want you to be happy in your work," and everything sort of went blank after that.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by gilmorehome 10 years ago
    Will "employees" ever be "happy" no matter how much you give them. Look at employee owned businesses - do they work? The question is, will the company thrive and prosper for a viable time period and do all employees understand economics sufficiently to make it work? Why work hard when you can make the same salary doing far less - equal pay no matter the value your contribution? There are many small businesses where the owners, the risk takers, are paying far more to their employees than they are receiving in return for their risk. There only consideration may be is that they get to make the final say - I don't think so, they ultimately are responsible for all and mostly their clients. I'm coming to the opinion that I will take care of myself, barter, take care of home, and help where I can without risking my own life and liberty.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Riftsrunner 10 years ago in reply to this comment.
    AR was prophetic only because she saw it in the Soviet Union where she grew up. And then she saw the foundations that had been laid down here to slide this country towards socialism/communism. So using her experiences as a road map, she was able to write warnings both fictional and non-fictional.
    Reply | Permalink  

  • Comment hidden. Undo