A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

E21 - Disunity and Sharing the Burden

May 27, 2022 Jonathan Seyfried Season 1 Episode 21
E21 - Disunity and Sharing the Burden
A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged
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A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged
E21 - Disunity and Sharing the Burden
May 27, 2022 Season 1 Episode 21
Jonathan Seyfried

In this episode, Jonathan returns to the first scene of Chapter 3 and analyzes the political-economic ideas alluded to by James Taggart and Orren Boyle. In this scene, Ayn Rand associates socialism with fascism, which is a very similar argument to the ideas of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. Jonathan summarizes the main argument of Hayek's book The Road to Serfdom. Jonathan explains how the problem with iron ore supply discussed in this scene makes for an interesting comparison to current-day supply chain problems in the wake of the Covid pandemic. What should a government do when the economy is stalled due to a shortage of particularly important materials for supply chains, such as oil? The episode concludes with an analysis of Orren Boyle's idea of a "free economy" and includes the economic terms collusion and oligopoly

My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

  1. What is human nature?
  2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
  3. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
  4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
  5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? 

Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.com

Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art

If you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.

The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.

The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.

Support the show

Support the Show.

Show Notes

In this episode, Jonathan returns to the first scene of Chapter 3 and analyzes the political-economic ideas alluded to by James Taggart and Orren Boyle. In this scene, Ayn Rand associates socialism with fascism, which is a very similar argument to the ideas of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. Jonathan summarizes the main argument of Hayek's book The Road to Serfdom. Jonathan explains how the problem with iron ore supply discussed in this scene makes for an interesting comparison to current-day supply chain problems in the wake of the Covid pandemic. What should a government do when the economy is stalled due to a shortage of particularly important materials for supply chains, such as oil? The episode concludes with an analysis of Orren Boyle's idea of a "free economy" and includes the economic terms collusion and oligopoly

My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

  1. What is human nature?
  2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
  3. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
  4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
  5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? 

Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.com

Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art

If you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.

The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.

The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.

Support the show

Support the Show.