The Journals of Ayn Rand (96 page)
Read The Journals of Ayn Rand Online
Authors: Ayn Rand
Moral to these men: Concern yourself with virtue, not vice; with intelligence, not stupidity; with strength and ability—not weakness and incompetence.
June 24, 1946
How do these last types of men affect my theme?
Are my “creators” (in the story) complete
men
or abstractions of a practical human quality? (They are “men of ability.” When they make mistakes, they function on the principles of the parasites. But in the sphere of their work they function on the principles of the creators.)
men
or abstractions of a practical human quality? (They are “men of ability.” When they make mistakes, they function on the principles of the parasites. But in the sphere of their work they function on the principles of the creators.)
The parasites in my story are motivated by hatred and exploitation of ability. What is the attitude of the above men [i.e., creators who sometimes function on the principles of parasites] toward ability? (Men of ability are not vicious; parasites are. Men of ability make mistakes; parasites are consciously evil. But it’s the mistakes of the men of ability that are most disastrous and pave the way for the evil of the parasites.)
The two basic qualities of the parasite:
(1) method—refusal to exercise his independent rational judgment, substituting for it the judgment of others; and (2) motive—desire to get the unearned (spiritual values which he doesn’t deserve, more material wealth than he can produce).
(1) method—refusal to exercise his independent rational judgment, substituting for it the judgment of others; and (2) motive—desire to get the unearned (spiritual values which he doesn’t deserve, more material wealth than he can produce).
These men [i.e., the mistaken creators] are not second-handers, but their great, basic error is in considering other men second-handers (or the desire to make them so).
They want others to substitute their (the master’s) judgment for their own.
They want others to admire them, without understanding.
They want unearned material wealth from others (taken away by force) for their own purposes (art, research, etc.) Unable to justify this last, they claim: “But I’m working for
your
sake”—
and this is how they enthrone the principle of the exploitation of creators.
your
sake”—
and this is how they enthrone the principle of the exploitation of creators.
June 25, 1946
The progressive steps of TT’s destruction must be integrated on three lines: the physical failures and contractions of the railroad must be connected with (come from and lead to) the personal relationships of the characters involved (showing the variations of parasitism) and the progression of their “life lines,” their specific, particular fates (such as Dagny moving towards shaking herself free of parasites, James Taggart moving toward spiritual destruction, etc.).
The “traitor creators”: the desperate, violent young inventor who accepts force out of despair at stupidity, who thinks that this is the only way to deal with the world—and is destroyed early and violently, unable to stand his own mistake; the more subtle and dangerous professor of physics [Robert Stadler] who wants unearned material wealth for his laboratory, fools himself and others into believing that he works “for the common good,” and who supports and makes possible all the brutal police methods of the parasites’ government. The professor invents a deadly weapon—and is violently destroyed by the very machinery and the very principles he has created.
A parallel to [MGM’s plans to] build a $3,000,000 studio in England: Taggart spends a small, badly needed fortune to build a new branch through a territory that has been moving to seize his railroad; his reason—“I’ll outsmart them by playing with them.” He builds the branch—and it is seized, causing great damage to the remaining lines of TT and their operation, [in addition to] the crippling financial loss. (Or should it be a “creator” competitor who does this for Taggart?)
Re: Robert Sherwood writing a biography of Harry Hopkins. This is such a shocking example of a parasite feeding on a parasite (in the intellectual realm) that a parallel must be found and used. [
Robert Sherwood was an American playwright who won the Pulitzer Prize for
Idiot’s Delight (1936);
Harry Hopkins was a politician who served as a special assistant to President Roosevelt during World War II.
]
Robert Sherwood was an American playwright who won the Pulitzer Prize for
Idiot’s Delight (1936);
Harry Hopkins was a politician who served as a special assistant to President Roosevelt during World War II.
]
The looter, the man who wants to grab some material wealth and run, living for the profit of the moment (or the man who is
only
after money, not production), wants the effect without the cause—that is why he is doomed to fail, is destructive and acting contrary to nature, his action being
irrational.
only
after money, not production), wants the effect without the cause—that is why he is doomed to fail, is destructive and acting contrary to nature, his action being
irrational.
Reason is the ability to understand the connections of fact and to use them by acting accordingly. Man must act through “final causation” (the choosing of his purpose) and must use “efficient causation” to achieve his purpose. The looter sets his purpose at “getting money” and tries to get it without the necessary steps of the cause that produces the effect of “money”—the cause being productive activity. That is why the looter usually fails himself (though not immediately, and the chain of steps and reasons is not always obvious) and why a society built on the principles of looting, a society that leaves man no freedom for anything else, will fail and destroy itself.
The productive man wants material wealth or money as the natural, logical, rational, inevitable result of his productive activity—and that is why he won’t work without the profit motive; consciously or unconsciously he knows that such work is evil, being unnatural and irrational. Even if he were free to function (which he can’t be in a collectivist State without property rights), even if such a situation could be achieved, he would not work without the profit motive—indifferent as he may be to money, his love and interest being in his work, in his creative activity. (Besides, he knows that money, the private ownership of the wealth he has created, is his means to further work.)
The parasite, true to his perverted basic premise and his irrationality, wants the money, with no concern for the productive process, for the work; in fact, with an active hatred for work and those who work—the hatred of dread (and dependence). This is the psychology of the looter-executives in the fourth stage of collapse.
Specific Steps Toward a Railroad’s DestructionThe last one:
a crucial branch is closed to get track for the last, main line.
Without the industries served by the branch, the main line cannot exist for long. (This is “living off capital.”)
a crucial branch is closed to get track for the last, main line.
Without the industries served by the branch, the main line cannot exist for long. (This is “living off capital.”)
The collapse of TT’s freight train bridge:
the last break. Most of the other rival lines are gone by then. (This is the “helplessness before nature.”)
the last break. Most of the other rival lines are gone by then. (This is the “helplessness before nature.”)
Disorganization (chaos):
no fuel where fuel was expected for the
no fuel where fuel was expected for the
Comet’s last ride. (This is the plain moron’s inability to understand the need of work and action.)
The “transportation pull”
deals: Major (and fatal) example of it—“help to a needy section which has an industry the country ought to [support].” At a crucial harvest time (when there is a good harvest after several bad years), Taggart unexpectedly refuses trains and cars to the farming section involved and uses these trains for the “preferred” section. Result—hunger for the country, farmers go bankrupt and quit, banks close, endless industries suffer—and TT, returning to its old branch, finds itself running it at a loss, yet unable (and afraid) to close it—“the section must be revived, this is just
temporary.”
deals: Major (and fatal) example of it—“help to a needy section which has an industry the country ought to [support].” At a crucial harvest time (when there is a good harvest after several bad years), Taggart unexpectedly refuses trains and cars to the farming section involved and uses these trains for the “preferred” section. Result—hunger for the country, farmers go bankrupt and quit, banks close, endless industries suffer—and TT, returning to its old branch, finds itself running it at a loss, yet unable (and afraid) to close it—“the section must be revived, this is just
temporary.”
Minor examples of the same method—deals on a smaller scale, involving individual shippers, through which the “gambler-speculator” industrialists ruin the few remaining producers. Each time—there is a final loss to TT.
(These are the “second-handers’ motives” in action.)
Incident of the death of a section
(the first one in the story, as part of the plot): TT closes its branch—one man in the section attempts to organize a pony express—the collective begins to hamper him with rules—John Galt tells him to stop—the section dies. (This illustrates parasite methods and [what happens in] the absence of a creator.)
Specific incident of an industry closing because of the railroad’s failure:
Loss of crucial, irreplaceable freight in switching yards’ tie-ups and snarls. Later—freight found in some most incongruous place. (Incompetence.)
Incident of the death of a section
(the first one in the story, as part of the plot): TT closes its branch—one man in the section attempts to organize a pony express—the collective begins to hamper him with rules—John Galt tells him to stop—the section dies. (This illustrates parasite methods and [what happens in] the absence of a creator.)
Specific incident of an industry closing because of the railroad’s failure:
Loss of crucial, irreplaceable freight in switching yards’ tie-ups and snarls. Later—freight found in some most incongruous place. (Incompetence.)
A major traffic snarl:
through break-down of signals or telegraph service. (Incompetence.)
through break-down of signals or telegraph service. (Incompetence.)
The return to flags and lanterns.
(Retrogression.)
(Retrogression.)
The progressive disappearance of:
diners, sleepers, air-conditioning, heating, water, lighting. And of: refrigerator cars, stock cars, tank cars. (Retrogression.)
diners, sleepers, air-conditioning, heating, water, lighting. And of: refrigerator cars, stock cars, tank cars. (Retrogression.)
The progressive deterioration of motive power:
The use of old locomotives, and locomotives ruined just to make one run. (The parasite’s “range of the moment.”) The looting chicanery to get locomotives from other systems—a barely veiled highjacking called “nationalization,” which the looters claim is “temporary, just for the emergency.” [They pass] some law such as that the remaining locomotives belong to the one who can “prove” the biggest “public good,” a grotesque kind of “priorities.” (The absence of inventors and “living off capital.”)
The use of old locomotives, and locomotives ruined just to make one run. (The parasite’s “range of the moment.”) The looting chicanery to get locomotives from other systems—a barely veiled highjacking called “nationalization,” which the looters claim is “temporary, just for the emergency.” [They pass] some law such as that the remaining locomotives belong to the one who can “prove” the biggest “public good,” a grotesque kind of “priorities.” (The absence of inventors and “living off capital.”)
In connection with this:
an incident of a locomotive high-jacked by Dagny (against priorities).
Their own locomotive was taken through “priorities” by someone else.
an incident of a locomotive high-jacked by Dagny (against priorities).
Their own locomotive was taken through “priorities” by someone else.
The tunnel collapses
—it cannot be repaired and reopened—miserable, shaky, make-shift steps to run the railroad around it by
going back to the rusted remains of an older, pre-tunnel era.
(The “return of nature.”)
—it cannot be repaired and reopened—miserable, shaky, make-shift steps to run the railroad around it by
going back to the rusted remains of an older, pre-tunnel era.
(The “return of nature.”)
One incident of a disastrous flood
in which a line is destroyed and cannot be repaired. The section dies. Memories of how such disasters were repaired in the past. (The “return of nature.”)
in which a line is destroyed and cannot be repaired. The section dies. Memories of how such disasters were repaired in the past. (The “return of nature.”)
One incident of a crucial train run
in which a great deal is at stake (in the plot), and the failure of the train destroys it. The failure is due to a cause that seems infinitesimal on the surface (like one loose screw in the rails), but is really huge as an indication of the cause behind it, of the second-handers in charge and the bestial idiocy of their methods. (Incompetence.)
in which a great deal is at stake (in the plot), and the failure of the train destroys it. The failure is due to a cause that seems infinitesimal on the surface (like one loose screw in the rails), but is really huge as an indication of the cause behind it, of the second-handers in charge and the bestial idiocy of their methods. (Incompetence.)
In connection with lumber industry—the untreated ties and the result.
(Lack of inventors.)
(Lack of inventors.)
The “equal rates” introduced by Taggart (“for democracy”) that ruin the more distant farming sections (or a distant but growing and heathy industry that should have had a future). (Second-handers’ motives.)
Incident of Taggart deciding that a competitor is ruining him,
that everything would be all right if it weren’t for “unfair competition”—so he ruins the competitor (with political help) and finds that he can’t run the line and that people won’t use it. This one can be connected with the first death of a section. (Second-handers’ envy, and idea that the job creates the man.)
that everything would be all right if it weren’t for “unfair competition”—so he ruins the competitor (with political help) and finds that he can’t run the line and that people won’t use it. This one can be connected with the first death of a section. (Second-handers’ envy, and idea that the job creates the man.)
Accidents:
one major railroad wreck directly connected to Taggart’s methods, and a few lesser ones (each progressively worse than the one before). Minor accidents and breakdowns—constantly. (This is plain, eloquent, screaming destruction—the direct physical expression of the essence, purpose, and final result of the parasite.)
One incident of a new invention taken over and the inventor kicked out.
Then the parasites don’t know how to use it and have to abandon it. It can be a young engineer with a new engine as a solution to their power problems. Or it can even be an invention of Galt‘s, possibly an early one—and he has now vanished—and Dagny looks for him, not knowing his name, she merely wants “the man and the brain who could do this.” (This is “the moron with the dishwasher.”)
one major railroad wreck directly connected to Taggart’s methods, and a few lesser ones (each progressively worse than the one before). Minor accidents and breakdowns—constantly. (This is plain, eloquent, screaming destruction—the direct physical expression of the essence, purpose, and final result of the parasite.)
One incident of a new invention taken over and the inventor kicked out.
Then the parasites don’t know how to use it and have to abandon it. It can be a young engineer with a new engine as a solution to their power problems. Or it can even be an invention of Galt‘s, possibly an early one—and he has now vanished—and Dagny looks for him, not knowing his name, she merely wants “the man and the brain who could do this.” (This is “the moron with the dishwasher.”)
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