Thanks for the post. It is appreciated. I first encountered Ayn Rand I believe in 1987 or 1988 when someone who knew what I was like recommended I read "The Fountainhead" and this was different for me as I was a voracious reader but mostly read sci-fi, fantasy, and horror at the time. A book about an Architect that was not tied to some horror tale did not seem like something I would read.

Yet the book SANG to my soul. I could relate on many levels as Howard Roark said many things that had gone through my own mind, and he said many things that in my youth (I was in the later years of High School) I had not yet thought of.

I loved the book. I thought it was simply amazing, and I know he recommended the book to me simply based upon the many things I would talk about and say that did sound similar to discussions and conversations from that book.

I did recommend that book to many others. Though I never went on to read any other books of Ayn Rand until many years later, and I honestly cannot tell you why.

Then when I finally did read Atlas Shrugged all I could say was "Yes, yes, and more yes." I could see the problems that were intentionally exaggerated in the book. I could see why the people speak the way they do.

I've also watched other reactions to the book and very clearly learned that some people's minds are very alien to me. Those people that attack the book as being about "selfishness" as a negative. I believe they went into the book looking for something to attack. When you do that you generally can find something on virtually any topic, or any book. Yet, with a narrow minded goal to attack you often miss the actual message.

Was it about selfishness? Yes. Not in a bad way though. The person protected their interests, pursued their dreams, etc and by doing so they helped a vast amount of people. There needs to be a degree of selfishness in the world and in people, and it is not always bad. The characters in the book Atlas Shrugged were selfish only in continuing to push forward with their creation and ideas. They did not make their idea about accumulating more and more. There is a difference between the type of selfishness in Atlas Shrugged and the word Greed. They are two very different things and the "selfish" characters in the book were not at all greedy. They simply wanted to give life to their creations and insure they could be maintained and lead to even more creations. They were selfish in how they insured they could continue to do this. The word selfish in that sentence though could just as easily be replaced by "smart", "wise", or "realist".

They did not try to pretend reality was a fantasy land. They simply used reason and dealt with facts. Yet they came to head to head with those who fantasize about the world being certain ways without actually using any reason, or facts to back that. They will try to force the world into their fantasy version of reality and anyone that would be against this is a "bad guy". This is really how a lot of people actually view the world. It doesn't work out too well when you operate solely on emotion, and treat speculations as fact.

As I grew older, became a parent, etc eventually my youngest son picked up one of my many copies of Atlas Shrugged at age 10 and read it. I was wondering "But did he comprehend it?" so I grilled him on it a bit. He understood the basics. I don't know if they had sunk in completely, but it may simply be that this son of mine can be pretty apathetic about his surroundings. I believe he understands it, yet I don't know that he has the drive to put those thoughts into practice. He is an adult now. All of my children are adults, and I actually have quite a few grand kids.

Ayn Rand is worthy reading. It should not be approached with the goal to attack it and tear it down. Approach it as a good reading and allow all the pieces to be presented as they were written as setting scenes, defining characters, etc.

I believe one of my favorite quotes is worthy of closing out this lengthy comment: