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Extraordinary Potential of Man Revealed in Atlas Shrugged Essay example

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The Extraordinary Potential of Man Revealed in Atlas Shrugged

Freewill is the tenet on which men founded the United States of America, and the glory of "America the Beautiful" stems from the unlocked potential of its people. The callused hands of the laborers sip from the cup of American wealth, not the lazy plowman demanding government help. The inventor's mind synthesizes, theorizes, and designs the American dream, not the indifferent, insolent mechanic. The steel will of the industrialists propels the nation to greater heights, not the selfish arrogance of the beggar. The men who carry the weight of the world, Atlas and his proteges, do so by their incredible strength, not because of weakness, just as Ayn Rand asserts in her …show more content…

The mighty dollar is criticized, and those who work for their own benefit are branded selfish and evil.

Dagny's brother, Jim Taggart, is infected, and works against her plans to expand Taggart Transcontinental. He claims his humanitarian conscience will not allow him to watch his sister conduct business with sucessful industrialists to the exclusion of less competitive and successful tycoons. As Dagny travels from the steel metropolis of New York to the deserts of the Southwest, Jim and his "Washington man" slow her attempts to bring prosperity to the fragmented company, while she also works on a new railroad line, the John Galt. Why should Dagny try to drive people out of business in her quest for financial success, Jim asks, if she has any sense of morality or responsibility for the American people?

Rand tosses this question around for a while, before answering it with resounding clarity. In essence, Dagny refuses to satisfy the desires of the people simply because they demand such right. In fact, she, Rearden, and their fellow torchbearer Francisco D'Anconia only trade items, ideas, and emotions of equal value to their own. In this way man can grow, reach his potential, and realize that a truly positive outlook on life requires that one lives life, no matter how difficult, in accordance with one's own morality and integrity. So, Rearden, Taggart, and other

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