Atlas Shrugged's Timeless Moral: Profit-Making Is Virtue, Not Vice

In the years leading up to 2008—09's financial meltdown, government control over mortgages, interest rates and America's banking system was at an all-time high.

And yet when crisis struck, free enterprise took the blame.

_________________________

I work for nothing but my own profit — which
I make by selling a product they need to men
who are willing and able to buy it. ...
I do not sacrifice my interests to them
nor do they sacrifice theirs to me;
we deal as equals by mutual consent
to mutual advantage.

_________________________

The cure, therefore, was to give government even wider powers. Washington can now bail out any company, fire CEOs, override contracts and print billions of dollars to "stimulate" the economy — all in the name of the public interest. The result? Our deficits and debt continue to mount, and there's a real possibility of a future like Greece's.

This is the state of our world today. It's remarkably similar to the state of the world in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," a mystery story about a future America whose economy is disintegrating and whose government is accumulating power faster than anyone thought possible. This parallel is a big reason a record 500,000 people bought "Atlas Shrugged" last year.

Read the rest of the editorial by Yaron Brooks on Investor.com.