Atlas Shrugged Analysis

“I expect to skin the public to the tune of a profit of twenty-five percent in the next few years.” “What do you mean, skin the public, Mr. Rearden?” asked the boy. “If it’s true, as I’ve read in your ads, that your Metal will last three times as long as any other and at half the price, wouldn’t the public be getting a bargain?” “Oh, have you noticed that?” (220)
This profound exchange embodies Atlas Shrugged’s philosophy on business and morality, exemplifying the code Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden, and the other producers live by: the idea that earned profit isn’t a motive for a well-run business; it’s the only motive. This credo may be misinterpreted by unthinking readers as a
Gekkoistic “greed is good”, but that view incorrectly conflates

Moral executives like Hank and Dagny want to earn money; in contrast, corrupt businessmen like James Taggart and Orren Boyle simply want to have it— their countercredo is “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need”. They view profits as a thing to be looted—but not to be earned. They falsely believe their altruistic motives are a higher cause than the pursuit of profits, and the aristocracy of pull a more accurate barometer than the invisible hand. Yet as Galt’s strike demonstrates, a legion of altruistic looters cannot possibly advance humanity in a year as much as a single productive corporation can in a day.
To be clear, Atlas Shrugged is not a celebration of business in the strictest sense. Atlas
Shrugged is a celebration of capitalism. Our society is conditioned to inextricably associate the two, but in reality, they are quite different. Many businesses in the real world exist in the same fashion as Orren Boyle’s Associated Steel,

He wants what the productive have without doing what they do. He believes his mere existence is his claim on their productivity. His philosophy on business is embodied by his philosophy on life and love. In a dramatic argument, he desperately pleads with his wife Cherryl for her love. She asks, “Jim, what do you want to be loved for?” (809) He responds as if it was a great affront: he doesn’t believe he needs a reason to be loved; in fact, he rejects the concept of reason entirely. All that matters to him is his need.
The manner in which Hank and Dagny operate their businesses and lives couldn’t provide a starker contrast. When Washington men (and Jim Taggart) neutralize Dan
Conway’s Phoenix-Durango with the Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog-Rule, Dagny’s reaction is not one of glee. It’s one of disgust. She doesn’t want Taggart Transcontinental to win the race because the sheriff shot and killed the only other horse in town. She responds to Ellis Wyatt’s ultimatum just as she should: she builds a line with the capacity Colorado’s economic potential demands. At every turn, when the