Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism

Re:Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism by uuilly on Sunday September 16, 2007 @05:26AM (#55223)

Mr. Mugabe nationalized all farms in Zimbabwe. There were many British Empire leftovers (white guys) running farms quite successfully. Zimbabwe was actually one of the rare African hopes pre Mugabe. Many said it would be the "bread basket" of Africa the way Ukraine is to Europe and Kansas is to the US. Mugabe siezed all "white owned" land and had native Zimbabweans run the farms. Predictably this all went to shit and their inflation rate now hovers between 6,000% and 10,000%. No exageration. When nobody could run the farms he actually buldozed tenemants and told the inhabitants to go work on the farms. Very little edible food has materialized.

The way this relates to Ayn Rand is that in all her stories the captains of industry are pervceived as evil profit mongers by the masses. The masses evantually rise up and take back what's "theirs" and the entire economy grinds to a halt. This is what Rand witnessed in the Russian Revolution and this is exactly what is happening in Zimbabwe today.

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Re:Ayn Rand's Literature of Capitalism by jrmurad on Sunday September 16, 2007 @11:19AM (#55283)

Thanks for clarifying... I read the parent as claiming that the looters (who you refer to as the "masses") are "John Galt in action". It makes more sense to say that the productive farmers picking up and leaving ("striking") would be John Galt in action. However, I think they were generally forced out by the thugs rather than (more Galt-like) voluntarily abandoning their industries.

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