615 - ATLAS
Today I shot the infamous Atlas statue in New York city, fully intent on reading Atlas Shrugged in the coming weeks. One of those two things happened.
It’s one of those books that’s so wrapped in controversy that I always knew I had to give it a shot.
If you’ve never heard of it, Atlas Shrugged attempts to tackle the philosophy of objectivism. A concept that revolved around “man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
That’s a direct quote from Ayn Rand, the author of the book. The reason the book is so heavily debated is because the philosophy basically translates to fuck everyone, achieve my goals at all costs.
Which, if you’re a capitalist in America, sounds great. But 95% of the population isn’t radical, aspiring entrepreneurs, so it doesn’t quite land for most people.
Truth be told, I got about 7 hours into the 52 hour audiobook before I gave up. It was a noteworthy attempt, but in the end my brain simply wouldn’t intake the impossibly drab dialogue any longer.
The Atlas statue itself has long been associated with objectivism, which, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is I’ve been yapping about it. It’s even prominently featured on the cover of Atlas Shrugged, which sat untouched on my bookshelf for most of my childhood. Until now.
Here’s the photo I took of the statue, on a moody afternoon in the city:
Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better place for the statue than Rockefeller Center. It’s supposed to represent the Greek god Atlas, who was condemned to hold Earth on his shoulders for all of eternity.
The book is called Atlas Shrugged, because the main characters, who run a major railway system in the United States, decide to go on strike to flex the power they have in keeping society running.
Thus, Atlas (and the main characters of the book) are shrugging the world (and the railway system that supplies everything) off their shoulders to demonstrate to the masses how important objectivism (AKA achievement-based capitalism) is to our society.
John D. Rockefeller was a kingpin billionaire that ran a near monopoly on the US oil industry in the early 1900s. Do you see the pieces connecting here?
Just saved you 52 hours.
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