Well, last night I had that experience with a book. Men everywhere, (all 3 of you) take a second and read these words from the character of Hank Reardon in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (1957) and you tell me if he does not have a set:
(A little context, Hank is in court facing ridiculous, but true, charges that he broke the law by selling his own metal product to a legitimate customer instead of giving it away to public for the "public good")
"No, I do not want my attitude to be misunderstood. I shall be glad to state it for the record. I am in full agreement with the facts of everything said about me in the newspapers--with the facts, but not with the evaluation. 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 produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; 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--and I am proud of every penny that I have earned in this manner. I am rich and I am proud of every penny I own. I made my money by my own effort, in free exchange and through the voluntary consent of every man I dealt with--the voluntary consent of those who employed me when I started, the voluntary consent of those who work for me now, the voluntary consent of those who buy my product. I shall answer all the questions you are afraid to ask me openly. Do I wish to pay my workers more than their services are worth to me? I do not. Do I wish to sell my product for less than my customers are willing to pay me? I do not. Do I wish to sell it at a loss or give it away? I do not. If this is evil, do whatever you please about me, according to whatever standards you hold. These are mine. I am earning my own living, as every honest man must. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact of my own existence and the fact that I must work in order to support it. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it and do it well. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it better than most people--the fact that my work is of greater value than the work of my neighbors and that more men are willing to pay me. I refuse to apologize for my ability--I refuse to apologize for my success--I refuse to apologize for my money. If this is evil, make the most of it. If this is what the public finds harmful to its interests, let the public destroy me. This is my code--and I will accept no other. I could say to you that I have done more good for my fellow men than you can ever hope to accomplish--but I will not say it, because I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, no do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life. I will not say that the good of others was the purpose of my work--my own good was my purpose, and I despise the man who surrenders his. I could say to you that you do not serve the public good--that nobody's good can be achieved at the price of human sacrifices--that when you violate the rights of one man, you have violated the rights of all, and a public of rightless creatures is doomed to destruction. I could say to you that you will and can achieve nothing but universal devastation--as any looter must, when he runs out of victims. I could say it, but I won't. It is not your particular policy that I challenge, but your moral premise. If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and I were asked to immolate myself for the sake of creatures who wanted to survive at the price of my blood, if I were asked to serve the interests of society apart from, above and against my own--I would refuse. I would reject if as the most contemptible evil, I would fight it with every power I possess. I would fight the whole of mankind, if one minute were all I could last before I were murdered, I would fight in the full confidence of the justice of my battle and of a living being's right to exist. Let there be no misunderstanding about me. If it is now the belief of my fellow men, who call themselves the public, that their mood requires victims, then I say: The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!" (Pg. 444-445)
I admire the principle and the line in the sand that is drawn from his convictions. In a crazy world where relative standards abound, Hank Reardon reaches a point where he has had enough. And I appreciate his courage here in the context of this scene to say enough is enough and to let his persecutors and the world know where he stands regarding their actions and beliefs. The message is capitalism 101 and the notions that he captures are more and more out of touch with where we as a country are going, but make no mistake about, his convictions are what this country was founded on. The core belief that man must work for his daily bread and that a man should take pride (good pride, not bad pride) in his abilities to do his work. Hank Reardon may come across short on compassion and service to others but his message resonates as a manvotional to the value and virtue of hard work and the right of men (and women) everywhere to work out a life for himself and for those he loves. Remember the words of a prophet of God...
"Let us realize that: the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success!"--David O. McKay
