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Irony: Idaho Lawmakers Mull Bill That Would Force Students to Read ‘Atlas Shrugged’

Feb. 8, 2013 11:12am Becket Adams

Sen. John Goedde (R Idaho) Formally Introduces Atlas Shrugged Bill

Ayn Rand, the patron saint of women with combovers (Getty Images).

As if teenagers weren’t angsty enough, Idaho lawmakers are considering a proposal that would require student to read “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand’s 1,069-page prayer to the self.

“State Sen. John Goedde introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require Idaho secondary students to read and pass an examination on the iconic 1957 novel touted by conservatives like Rep. Paul Ryan and Rush Limbaugh,” Fox News notes.

Sen. Goedde, a Republican, says the bill is meant to be more of a statement than actual policy.

Media outlets have so far “totally missed the point” of his proposed legislation, the senator told Fox in a statement, adding that the bill is protest against a state Board of Education decision to cut back online class requirements.

“Traditionally in Idaho, the State Board of Education sets graduation requirements in rule,” Goedde said in an email Thursday.

“They recently repealed a rule dealing with online class requirements and failed to move another rule forward dealing with administrators demonstrating proficiency in evaluating teachers. I felt both were important and wanted to remind them that the legislature could also set graduation standards,” he adds.

The senator stressed that he is only trying to make a point with his “Atlas Shrugged” bill and that he doesn’t believe it will actually pass.

Still, as noted in the report, the bill was formally introduced Tuesday.

“The student shall obtain a passing grade on the examination in order to satisfy the graduation requirement provided for in this section. Such examination shall be approved by the state department of education,” the bill reads.

When asked why Sen. Goedde chose “Atlas Shrugged,” he replied: “That book made my son a Republican.”

He also told The Spokesman-Review that the proposed legislation is merely a “shot over their bow” to “indicate other ways to adopt high school graduation requirements.”

Final Thought: We wonder if the senator sees the irony in introducing a bill that would force students to read — of all things — “Atlas Shrugged,” the world’s longest, most rambling breakup letter to governed society.

A government bill forcing people to read Ayn Rand is like a small business profiting off of t-shirts with Che Guevara on them.

— Frances Martel (@francesmartel) February 7, 2013

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Featured image courtesy Getty Images. This post has been updated.

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Comments (123)

sbenard
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:06pm
That’ s a great choice! I would also recommend The Law by Bastiat!

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- SendTheMeteors
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:20pm
  Since when do Republicans support books on glorifying greed and selfishness written by flaming atheists who mocked the Christian religion?
  
  Anyway, if they have to read that book, make them read The Grapes of Wrath too.
  
  Report this comment
- AmericanStrega
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:36pm
  METEORS:
  “The Grapes of Wrath” is a great book and the movie made from it was very well done and should be watched.
  
  Report this comment
- circleDwagons
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:51pm
  This book Should be Banned!!! Government students should Not be allowed to read this book.
  
  Report this comment
- blarman
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:05pm
  SendTheMeteors – Uh, most kids DO have to read “The Grapes of Wrath”, along with “Julius Caesar”, “Hamlet”, “Macbeth”, “Romeo & Juliet”, “Lord of the Flies”, “Night”, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, and many others. You can check your local high school English curriculum for most. The ones I listed were on my High School curriculum (along with many others), and I went to school in Boise, Idaho.
  
  That Rand was anti-Religion should actually be pleasing to liberals like you. I would think that you would be completely in support of a book written by an author that completely denied religion – especially Christianity. But then again, Rand wasn’t nearly as passionate about lack of religion as she was about decrying government overreach. And the fact that she had grown up in Communist Russia and was very public about the horrors she saw there with government controlling EVERYTHING probably runs against the progressive grain and undermines your agenda because it promotes freedom of thought, rather than the “sheeple” the liberals love to create – and enslave.
  
  Report this comment
- Witness1974
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:09pm
  Meteor: I actually agree with you. In fact I think the two books would make a great seminar. Good thinking!
  
  Report this comment
- Johnny Cocheroo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:19pm
  My opinion is that reading literature during high school is a waste. Time should be spent on math, sciences, history.
  
  Paperbound treasures should be found by the curious and those who wish to be enlightened. I found this book Atlas Shrugged just because everybody kept on quoting it. It was a long haul and at times quite thick but well worth the read.
  
  Two other hardbacks that made a large impression on me was:
  Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa and Roots by Alex Haley.
  
  Brave New World was ok….. anyone else think that TV is our world’s “soma”?
  Animal Farm was ok but easily explained why some animals are more equal than others (politicians anyone?).
  
  Report this comment
- barber2
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:23pm
  SEND: The idea of a balanced view is excellent, and what should be being done in ” educating” students rather than brainwashing them ! Too many teachers / professors think they are political gurus whose job in life is to brainwash their students into becoming little mirrors of the professor’s ideology .
  
  Report this comment
- Mudd
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:37pm
  I would also suggest It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis and yes, to my second cousin, Johnny Cochoore’s question, I think television is our soma. Cut off TV for a week and people would lose their frickin’ minds. Cut off TV and the internet and it would be chaos.
  
  Report this comment
- UNALIEN
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:40pm
  Most people who criticize Rand haven’t read Shrugged, as an adult with a critical mind, or understand her philosophy of Objectivism. In Rands objectivism “selfishness” does not mean the conventional, personal gain at the expense of others.. the “evil” connotation. but Rands lexicon uses “selfishness” to honestly describe the true state of man between Altruism and Nietzschean egoists. “Selfishness” is the pursuit of self interest, for example giving to charity must first satisfy our own self interest and even in religion individuals are exhibiting “selfishness” or pursuing self interest, the term does not have a negative or positive moral value in Objectivism.
  
  So, when people criticize Rand on the “selfishness” contextual lexicon they usually don’t have a clue what they are talking about,,
  
  But, forced to read, maybe encouraged to read it but if one doesn’t have a critical mind, they can’t process and evaluate it…
  
  “If it is true that what I mean by “selfishness” is not what is meant conventionally, then this is one of the worst indictments of altruism: it means that altruism permits no concept of a self-respecting, self-supporting man—a man who supports his life by his own effort and neither sacrifices himself nor others. It means that altruism permits no view of men except as sacrificial animals and profiteers-on-sacrifice, as victims and parasites—that it permits no concept of a benevolent co-existence among men—that it permits no co
  
  Report this comment
- SendTheMeteors
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:15pm
  Blarman says, “That Rand was anti-Religion should actually be pleasing to liberals like you.”
  
  Do you mean liberals aren’t Christian? Where did ya get that idea?
  
  Report this comment
- Kumo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:36pm
  SENDTHEMETEORS
  
  Despite what the media leads you to believe, Republican and Libertarian conservatives are fairly diverse groups of people. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Straight and Gay; we are a melting pot of different types of people with similar political ideas.
  
  For the record, I’ve met a few open minded Liberals that didn’t drive me batsh*t angry.
  
  Report this comment
- Johnny Cocheroo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:36pm
  @Mudd
  
  I tried to convince the wifey once to cancel our cable, you’d think I asked her to turn off the heat for the winter. She’s working with me though. We’ve had the radio on more during the mornings and evenings instead of the TV. Would you believe we’re talking more and the evenings seem to last longer?
  
  You know, what I’d really like to do is stand up next to my TV and chop it down with the edge of my hand.
  
  I’ll check out your Sinclair Lewis’s book. You’re the first person to catch my name & I’ve been using it for awhile now – nice.
  
  Report this comment
- wowjustwow
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:39pm
  Agree with meteors – I am liberal and Christian as are most of my friends. Not sure where you’re getting this idea of liberals not being Christian??
  
  Report this comment
- wowjustwow
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:40pm
  Circled Wagons…book banning??? Really. Scary.
  
  Report this comment
- Mudd
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:51pm
  Right on, Johnny, don’t forget to pick up the pieces of that tv and make an island.
  
  Report this comment
- Xylliab_of_the_Znarghh
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 3:25pm
  Students should be assigned novels to read on the basis of literary merit. Since Atlas Shrugged is longer than Moby Dick, Great Expectations Huckleberry Finn and Hamlet put together, I cannot say that reading it is a worthwhile expenditure of students’ time.
  
  Report this comment
- oneshiner
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 4:09pm
  Love to read good books. Believe me, if you start reading ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ you can’t put it down.
  
  Report this comment
- Ollie123
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 4:24pm
  If you really want a wake up call, read the Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn
  
  Report this comment
- jpratt
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 5:16pm
  I first read Atlas Shrugged about 5 years ago and have read it 2 more time since. . If I would have read it in high school I think It would have had a major impact on my life. It did anyway. I think Objectivism can coexist with religion. It’s a great place to start a debate and get these you skulls full of mush thinking at least,
  
  Report this comment
- circleDwagons
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 5:32pm
  @wow. Yes, if you want kids to read the book tell them No. If I had read this book in high school I would have probably dropped out.
  
  Report this comment
- Witness1974
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 6:22pm
  I think it would be cool if Blaze would start a book blog where people can recommend/pan and just generally share info and ideas about books. Now that would be fun.
  
  Report this comment
- Chuck Stein
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 6:31pm
  @ Meteors/JZS
  “Do you mean liberals aren’t Christian? Where did ya get that idea?”
  ___________________________________________
  “Liberal” today means “progressive/socialist” and a foundation of such political dogma is that rights come from man and not God.
  
  Report this comment
- skunkbear
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 8:13pm
  I recommend banning gubment indoctrination – I mean education – all together.
  
  Report this comment
- SendTheMeteors
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:49pm
  Chuck Stein says, “Liberal” today means “progressive/socialist” and a foundation of such political dogma is that rights come from man and not God.”
  
  Chuck, there’s a hole in your idea: Who decides what God thinks? The Westboro Baptist Church? The Koran burning pastor? Pat Robinson? The Pope? An Imam? Jerry Falwell? Jimmy Swaggart or Ted Haggard?
  
  I’ve got news for Chuck. People have different opinions about God and what he wants and what he demands and what “rights” he has granted. Everybody has their own idea about that, and maybe that was God’s intention: to let each of us interpret the ambiguity for themselves according to their own heart, and be judged thereby at the end of the world.
  
  The fact is that the human race has to make decisions about what is best for the world. Sorry, there is no universally accepted prophet speaking for God telling explaining what is right and what is wrong. It that absence, people are simply going to do the best they can.
  
  Report this comment
- Witness1974
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:57pm
  Meteor: There is a hole in your experience. God has spoken to us through the prophets. While I know that liberals love ambiguity, when the scriptures are studied closely what appears to be paradox is resolved. The Word is pretty clear if it’s given a good reading. By the way, how much have you read it? You are obviously intelligent; I hope you are as honest as you are smart.
  
  Report this comment
FunToBeHere
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:04pm
I think that a much better idea would be to require all of the teachers to read “Atlas Shrugged”. That would be much more effective for the students.

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- JeffMT
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:34pm
  @FUNTOBEHERE:
  
  Excellent point.
  
  But, can you imagine the outrage from the teacher’s union and their membership! You’d have the NEA/AFT in that community in full force, you’d have the mainstream media all over it, etc. It would be a national news story overnight and they would beat that community, school and school board to a pulp.
  
  That book scares the libs more than any other book out there because it is now 56 years old yet still spot on in many respects regarding what is happening in the country today and the road we are on.
  
  That is the last thing the libs want their mindless minions to discover: how this is really going to turn out for them and that there is no endless supply of ‘entitlements’ for them.
  
  As things continue to go down hill, that book is going to become more and more popular as all of those people living in ignorant bliss now are finally forced to wake up to what is really going on. I would bet that book sells as many copies in the next 20 years as it has sold in the previous 56 years, and it won’t just be in the USA, it will be worldwide.
  
  Report this comment
- RANGER1965
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:50pm
  @TMBELL87
  
  Except for one or two, our founders were very strong Christians. Their writings make that certain.
  
  However they were not arrogant or foolish enough to try to build a Christian nation. They had the example of the Church of England as an example of where not to go. They wanted a nation where people were free to worship as they saw fit, or not to worship.
  
  But lets be clear most of them personally believed that Christian virtue would be required for our nation to survive.
  
  Report this comment
- igetit
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:37am
  Fabulous idea! Have the teachers read it then maybe they won’t assign anti-colonialist crap like the book Things Fall Apart for our students to read. I started home schooling my son soon after he was forced to read that book in his honors English class. Most seniors of today couldn’t get through the first 20 pages Atlas Shrugged.
  
  Report this comment
JeffMT
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:49am
The way to introduce ‘Atlas Shrugged’ to high school students, imho, is to make it a year long honors class. That way it is not mandatory and those kids who want to tackle Atlas Shrugged over the course of their senior year can do so. That would give them enough time to read the book and understand it – and therein lies the problem.

I have read it three times over the course of fifteen years and even the third time through I was discovering things in the book I did not notice the first two times. There is a LOT to think about in that book regarding a number of different subjects (not only philosophy but business operations and management, government and bureaucracy, interpersonal relationships, psychology, etc.). Most of that stuff is going to sail over the heads of 17-18 year old kids because to understand that book means being able to relate it to real world experiences of the reader. I know it would not have meant nearly as much to me at 17 as it did at 40, when I first read it.

That means it would be ESSENTIAL to have someone teaching that class who understood the book himself/herself and could explain it to the kids as they worked their way through it. And since I doubt very seriously that there are many high school teachers who have ever read that book, let alone who would ‘get it’ such that they could (or would be willing to) teach it to teenagers, I doubt a high school class on the book would be successful or beneficial to the kids.

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- txannie
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:00pm
  @jeffmt…maybe I need to try to read it again….your arguement makes me wonder if maybe I ran through it too fast…but it is soooo hard to get through such a book when the sun is shining and the birds are twitterpating…..
  
  Report this comment
- lthm
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 2:33am
  TXAnnie, I have never actually “read” it, but I bought it awhile back in audiobook format (unabridged), and have listened to the entire thing a couple of times. It takes awhile to get through, but is easier than finding the time to read it since you can listen to it while you’re in the car, working or falling asleep.
  
  Report this comment
Mike Benton
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:48am
First they should read The Federalist Papers. Our Constitution was developed by some of the greatest leaders in human history, and 0bama is tearing it apart!!!!

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- Witness1974
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:18pm
  I agree. But, liberal teachers can screw up anything. How do you save the house of education when it is so thoroughly infested with termites? What we need is education that teahes people to think instead of emote. There is a lot of good literature out there, but anything written by dead white men is now out of bounds.
  
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- Witness1974
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:11pm
  Dead white women too, apparently.
  
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- wowjustwow
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:43pm
  Pure nonsense that books written by dead white men and women aren’t read. Check into schools’ curricula in your neighborhood. Never heard such an assertion!!
  
  Report this comment
- Witness1974
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 3:16pm
  WOWJUSTWOW: I don’t know where you live, but here in California, the curriculum has been strongly influenced by the PC doctrine of inclusion to the exclusion of dead white men. You can still take a course in Shakespeare, but the long established canon of literature is frowned upon. My daughter is a middle school and high school teacher and I have taught in the English department of a local university. All you have to do is sit through one department meeting and watch Whitey scrambling to find some minority group to attach himself to so he can have some stature in the academy. Believe me. It’s been happening for a long time.
  
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RANGER1965
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:48am
Considering Ayn Rand is almost the avatar of Libertarianism, would she approve of a government sanctioned requirement that her book be read?

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- txannie
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:10pm
  Wow…good point….
  
  Report this comment
- Witness1974
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:19pm
  Yes, hence the word “irony” in the title of the article.
  
  Report this comment
- truthnstuff
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:21pm
  Normally I would agree. But, kids are required to be indoctrinated with Marxism, so it would be tit for tat.
  
  Report this comment
- tmbell87
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:30pm
  Rand absolutely despised Libertarians. I just wanted to clear the air on that. Here’s a quote:
  
  Above all, do not join the wrong ideological groups or movements, in order to “do something.” By “ideological” (in this context), I mean groups or movements proclaiming some vaguely generalized, undefined (and, usually, contradictory) political goals. (E.g., the Conservative Party, that subordinates reason to faith, and substitutes theocracy for capitalism; or the “libertarian” hippies, who subordinate reason to whims, and substitute anarchism for capitalism.) To join such groups means to reverse the philosophical hierarchy and to sell out fundamental principles for the sake of some superficial political action which is bound to fail. It means that you help the defeat of your ideas and the victory of your enemies. (For a discussion of the reasons, see “The Anatomy of Compromise” in my book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.) [“What Can One Do?” The Ayn Rand Letter, Vol. 1, No. 7]
  
  But in response to your question, yes, she would not support a government saction to read her book.
  
  Report this comment
- RANGER1965
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:46pm
  @TMBELL87
  
  I think the Libertarianism she is referring to, is the 60′s radical version that is essentially Anarchy. I think of our founders as Libertarians, who practiced their political views with reason and logic as their guide posts.
  
  Unlike Ayn Rand our founders viewed Christianity as essential for the moral strength of the individual and the nation. They did not view it as an opiate of the masses or as a form of mind control.
  
  Report this comment
- tmbell87
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:14pm
  @Ranger,
  
  Agreed. But the thing I see as a Libertarian myself is a dichotomy between true libertarians (aka classical liberals) and the anarcho-capitalists which is still present to this day. I find this to be the equivalent dichomoty within the republican party between the neocon RINOs and the tea-party types.
  
  As for our founders, I would call them classical liberals rather than libertarians, simply to avoid misidentification and possible association with anarcho-capitalists. In regards to the founder’s religious beliefs, many of them were deists at best, but secularists in their policies. They were clear about the secular establishment of our country and how it was not specifically based on christianity. This was explicitly stated in the Treay of Tripoli of 1797, Article 11. Though I think you and I have discussed this on other threads before.
  
  Regards
  
  Report this comment
barber2
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:46am
I think every student in America should be required to take a course entitled : Running Your Own Business – complete with payroll, taxes, regulations per industry, hiring/ firing , etc. And I would want business leaders to have a big say in creating the curriculum – not the Far Lefties in education .

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- circleDwagons
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:59pm
  @barber2. Who would teach this class? Most government teacheers have no buisness teaching economics. Econ. was required class at my high school. The teacher consistently preached that progressive taxes where fair and that sales taxes where evil.
  
  Report this comment
- barber2
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:19pm
  CIRCLE: The class would have to have a written teaching guide . Maybe a game board set up . I would just like students to understand the role of government as it affects the everyday workings of a small business owner . Also would like them to understand the many difficult aspects that the business people face since so many politicians portray them only as greedy monsters and unfair bosses.
  
  Report this comment
progressiveslayer
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:45am
It’s too bad they need to make yet another law when the teacher should just have the book as part of the lesson plan,no law is needed.

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DZ-015
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:44am
I’d rather see a bill forcing all legislators to read all bills before voting and then passing a test before they can vote.

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- wowjustwow
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:46pm
  Love it!!!
  
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GroundZero is Nuclear Demolition x3
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:43am
It took me two months to read, and that was because I didn’t have a job at the time. Some of it’s meaning will certainly be lost to experience youth lack.
But reading that much would certainly help them acclimate to reading in their adult lives.

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Ron Staiger
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:42am
I would prefer that they be forced to read ‘Das Kapital’, ‘Rules For Radicals’ and ‘Dreams From My Father’ because Marxism is here to stay as long as the “takers” have more power than the “givers”.

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right-wing-waco
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:37am
Atlas Shrugged… one of the best books I EVER read. Yes, it’s too long but it’s message of freedom is so funny in how she makes her points. It’s the only book I ever read where I kept checking the publish date.

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- SPOT_OF_TEA
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:44am
  Instead of making the little urchins read the book they could present them with the first 2 dvd’s….there is a lot to be learned just by watching those.
  
  Report this comment
- tmbell87
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:35pm
  If I ever feel in the mood for Atlas Shrugged, I just read John Galt’s radio speech. It hits on all the points but without all the fluff that is drawn out through the rest of the book.
  
  Report this comment
SREGN
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:35am
It should be the sole Economic, Civics, and Literature texts.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:34am
Good, have the book Atlas Shrugged part of the curriculum. God willing, more people will be woken up to the danger around us.

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FlagWavingPatriot
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:32am
Any story that has “lawmakers mull” is bound to turn out bad.

Legislatures, both federal and state, should be part-time endeavors. There’s no reason we should pay these power-hungry elitists to sit around full time and dream up more laws. We have FAR too many laws as it is. Start balancing budgets and enforcing the laws we have!

“Land of the Free”…right.

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- naughtycal
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:40am
  There are always required reading materials in school. I say why not change it up and make Shrugged a required read. It is damn sure the polar opposite of what the general indoctrination ideology that most are being bombard with daily. It might actually require critical thought among the students.
  
  Report this comment
- FutureVision
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:51am
  There are some truths that must be taught. I believe Atlas Shrugged is a good idea but they mignt also look at Locke, the Federalist and Anti Federalist Papers, The Virginia Declaration and others. In order for these to be fully understood they must be shown the other side, so reading Child 44 should be a must as well. Once they’ve read they must be helped the understand the history of governance. History exposes the unvarnished truth, that socialism always produces 3 things. Always and without variation it produces privation, a culture of fear and rampant violations of human rights. It’s misery shared.
  That said, the world is changing and what worked in the past will not work in the future. So we need an open discussion of potential frameworks that do not include a centralized all powerful world government.
  
  Report this comment
Krutch
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:32am
Then we’ll have to give the students longer hours and school year to learn to be good little self absorbed self-important commies…….Oh wait, they’re already being taught that!

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saranda
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:28am
Spent a lot of time in the northern part of Idaho. Not sure most can even read. Beautiful part of the world but attracts a strange breed.

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- SPOT_OF_TEA
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:36am
  Well it atracted you didn’t it ….Ha Ha
  
  Report this comment
- saranda
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:41pm
  Touche. Reminds me of the interior of British Columbia. An area that is very special to me.
  
  Report this comment
SPOT_OF_TEA
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:28am
It was disappointing that Atlas Shrugged the movie did poorly at the box office…You would think that people would be lining up in droves to see this movie but you must remember,Ms Rand didn’t make many friends on either side of the political aisle…..The left hated her because she exposed the evil of government and she called the people of the middle east savages……And the right wasn’t pleased with her eiter because she was an atheist and she was pro abortion……..Part 2 of Atlas Shrugged the movie on DVD is due to be released next week….I would encourage everyone to buy 2 copies…one for yourself and one for someone who needs to be woke up.

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- naughtycal
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:43am
  Yes she pissed of christian and socialist/communist as well alike that’s pretty much 2/3 of the population. And even though she was atheist she pissed them off as well as most aspire to a socialist form of government.
  
  Report this comment
- Johnny Cocheroo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:52am
  I would rather encourage everybody buy a hardcover Atlas Shrugged book instead of watching the DVD’s.
  
  The first Atlas Shrugged movie was great. My wife found the movie very interesting (with a little help from someone who read the book).
  
  The second movie was totally awful. All of the actors were replaced with older actors which was a major let down. The dialogue & scenarios didn’t feel real.
  
  Report this comment
- anothercomment
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 12:04am
  Spot of Tea
  I know what you mean about the response of the box office for Part 1. Personally, I believe Atlas Shrugged was a fairly dense novel; the movie had to leave a lot of the less interesting points out. Personally, every bit that was written was important, even the long diatribes that Dagney seem to go into, but was Ayn’s voice attempting to explain the real point of the book: beware of communism, it will lull you in and ultimately make you a slave. I’m am not a fan of big movies, especially if I’ve read the book first – I tend to grade the movie by what I felt was neglected, and felt was important. I do plan to watch the second part, just because I never want to leave a story unfinished, even this screenwriter’s version.
  
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9111315
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:26am
An Atlas Shrugged Video, Wow! You didn’t build that.

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Tuhme21
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:24am
I don’t agree with FORCING students to read it but just as I would have my students read the communist manifesto, I would probably have them read at least excerpts from Atlas Shrugged and read Anthem in its entirety. The length of Atlas Shrugged is an issue but the idea of getting people to understand the idea that Rand wanted to express which is different from common belief in that instead of being about selfishness it’s about self-interestness. There is a difference. Selfishness is doing something for you while not taking into account the effect on others. Altruism is the complete opposite of this. Altruism is doing for others without thinking of yourself. Being self-interested is doing for you in order to make the choice to do service for others, meaning giving charity and the like. It should be one’s choice to take responsibility for yourself and in a way that helps others, which eventually will help others help themselves. I believe that this is important in the process to help our younger generation obtain a better culture of self-reliance and self-responsibility.

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RLTW
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:23am
We the living or Anthem may be a better start point for kids.

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Ch
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:21am
excellent

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Exidor
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:19am
The senator stressed that his “Atlas Shrugged” bill is only meant to make a point and that he has zero intention actually passing it.

Great use of his time. Does he play Angry Birds in session too?

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kdshell1
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:18am
We Idahoians (“Spudders”) believe in the Constitutional rights of freedom so much that it’s only natural to force people to learn about it.

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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:17am
“We wonder if the senator sees the irony in introducing a bill that would force students to read — of all things — “Atlas Shrugged,” the world’s longest, most rambling breakup letter to governed society”

I disagree with this statement, it isn’t a breakup with a governed society, it’s a display of what an unchecked government does when it no longer works for the people, but strives to make the people subjects to its will.

Who is John Galt.

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Gonzo
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:17am
It’s pretty long and a bit dry. We would have better luck with an Atlas Shrugged video game for the attention deficit generation.

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- redfish52
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:22am
  Gonzo…I agree…I was working in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia with nothing to do in the evenings and I had trouble getting through it…
  
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- txannie
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:26am
  @gonzo…I’m not of the “attention deficit” generation, but I still thought it was a somewhat of a waste of time to read that long, boring missive that could have been summed up in a much shorter version that still said the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read and have worn out many library cards, but, I guess I like being outside doing rather more than sitting reading for hours at a time. Oh well….
  
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- SPOT_OF_TEA
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:32am
  I bought the audio vesion……I thought at first there were so many cds that I would never get through it but by the time I listened to the first 7 or 8 I was disappointed there was only a couple left…..and when I finished it,it left me wanting to know more.
  
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- Gonzo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:33am
  Annie, I agree. Great message, but almost painfully presented.
  
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- Cavallo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:39am
  I used to think the bad guys in Atlas Shrugged were one dimensional, and repetitive, until I started listening to the rhetoric and line by line claptrap BS modern leftists spew. They sound JUST LIKE bad guys from Atlas Shrugged.
  
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- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:42am
  the movie was a bit short….they jumped right into things without much background and everything going on was 30 second news clips…it was a quick summary of the first half of the book…i haven’t watched part 2…straight to DVD….but I hope they flesh things out a bit….
  
  barely 90 minutes for part 1…should have been 2:30 at least….
  
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- Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:46am
  Wow, someone really doesn’t like my posts today. Gonzo, if they make a video game, I would love to play, as long as I can take out Mouch with a chainsaw.
  
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- Gonzo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:59am
  I saw it the first time Darmok. I guess they can’t take a joke.
  
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- Marine25
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:01pm
  It’s poor literature. In the scope of 2oth century fiction it hardly registers a thematic blip. It’s an interesting piece of speculative fiction, but it is not a great novel, so it doesn’t belong in the curriculum of American Lit, it is not historical or even historical fiction so it doesn’t fit in a Social Studies curriculum. She is not considered a great writer. I wonder if the legislators are ready for the political blowback from their constitutants when they learn the actual themes of the book; ammorality, selfishness and implied atheism.
  
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- Lloyd Drako
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:32pm
  People influenced by Rand have greatly influenced the course of US history over the last 50 years, from Alan Greenspan to Paul Ryan. For that reason alone, students at least should be exposed to her work. However, they should only be required to read the whole of Atlas Shrugged as a punishment for serious violation of school rules.
  
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