Recommending A Challenge

Granny offered up a Reading Challenge to read ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand.

Atlas Shrugged can be purchased from Amazon or can likely be borrowed from your local library.

There are also lots of study guides available free online such as Cliff Notes , Spark Notes , and Yahoo Education .

The Wall Street Journal wrote a great review of Atlas Shrugged that might inspire you to get this book and read it. It is a BIG book, and not the easiest to read, but is well worth the effort given the current state of things, and the promises and plans being made for our future.

To quote the article just a bit ... "the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism." The article says so much more than this, but I do not want to give away the whole book before you've had a chance to read it.

I read this book in my early 20's at the recommendation of my father, and intend to read it again this winter with my oldest children (they are going to be using study guides of course for help) . It definately made me think .... and impacted my own political "thoughts" regarding all things government for ever after.

I only wish it were required reading for all government officials .... it might be "just the thing" given the current state of things and the plans being formulated. These are difficult times indeed ....

DISCLAIMER: Ms. Rand is not the type of person that I would consider a "role model", nor do I subscribe to all of her "ideas". Personally, I am able to overlook those issues, and focus instead on the contribution she made in the writing of this particular book. You may be able to do the same ... or not. I recommend some research first to decide.