Nothing has pushed me towards my belief in collectism quite like this novel's miserable excuse for the woes of capitalism in the face of forced incompetence.

In order to justify her argument that capitalism is an ultimate good, Rand takes every opportunity possible to maker the protagonists look heroic by making everyone around them egregiously stupid and lazy, and it's so hard not to notice.

"Capitalism is right because our two main characters work hard and they shouldn't be forced to share their profits with people who don't work as hard as them" says nothing for the people of the world who work incredibly hard and have nothing to show for it. To the detriment of her argument, the deurotagonists of Rand's novel, Dagny Taggart and Hank Reardan, both come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds which allowed them to thrive in ways that wouldn't have been accessible to others. Dagny is the daughter of a transcontential train mogul, and she is often overlooked by her father for being as she is a woman with an interest in business and trains. That alone may have made for an interesting story, but Rand attempts to use Dagny's struggles to be recognized for her talents as a blanket for why all capitalism should be rewarded.