Atlas Shrugged Movie Explained Part 2-- Rearden Metal Is Not For Sale.flv

http://www.atlasshrugged.org Atlas Shrugged Character Hank Rearden Won't Sell Rearden Metal
Hello, I'm David Kelley, Executive director of The ATLAS SOCIETY and consultant to the ATLAS SHRUGGED movie.
In the scene we are going to watch, drawn from Chapter 7 in the novel, a Dr. Potter from the State Science Institute visits Hank Rearden's office to discuss Rearden Metal. The State Science Institute is a government institution, ostensibly for scientific research. But as the scene illustrates, it is also a political organ with a political agenda.
Let's watch...
In this scene we have what appears to be a simple conflict between a businessman and a bureaucrat. Dr. Potter wants to buy the rights to Rearden Metal, and Hank Rearden refuses.
But let's examine where each of these men are coming from.
For Dr. Potter, the economy as a whole is a system that needs to be directed by government.
When Hank Rearden asks Dr. Potter to say whether the metal is good, Dr. Potter says "if it isn't good, then it is a physical danger...." All right, that's clear enough. No one, including Hank Rearden himself, wants to introduce a technology that harms people.
"If it is good, it is a social danger." What does that mean?
Dr. Potter is invoking the idea of anti-trust. If a business gets too big, it's an economic danger to smaller competitors and has to be limited by the force of the state.
The assumption is that government planners and regulators can intervene to adjust the complex workings of the market.
That assumption has been proven to be completely wrong, as evidence by the failure of socialist economies, and by the many government actions in our own mixed economy that have unintended bad consequences.
Hank Rearden does not buy the assumption. He does not for a minute believe that his metal is anything but a huge benefit to other producers and to consumers.
But there's a more fundamental difference in perspective.
What is an economy? It is not something over and above individual workers, consumers, and owners. It just is all of them as individuals, producing and trading with other individuals.
So when government regulates the economy, what it is doing is forcing individuals to do things against their will.
In particular, the State wants to take away Hank Rearden's ownership of his invention, which he labored ten years to develop and now just beginning to sell. Potter is offering money, so it would not be outright confiscation. But there is the veiled threat in the background that worse is to come if Hank Rearden doesn't cooperate.
Dr. Potter can't understand why he won't sell the metal. The government will offer more money than Rearden can expect to make in years of selling the metal.
But from Hank Rearden's perspective as an individual, that doesn't matter. He refuses the deal because
"It's mine. Do you understand that concept?"
And because it is good.
It's obvious here that Hank Rearden is not just out for money. His business is a matter of immense pride to him. His ownership as the creator is an extension of himself. It is unthinkable to sell himself.
The offer, by the way, is not in the book, and its one thing I would criticize in the money...
For more information and discussion about the Objectivist view of money, production, and government economic actions, visit The Atlas Society website. http://www.atlassociety.org

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[gordy779]

A great example of this video is Government Motors. Once it was totally privately held, then the government came in, kicked the President out, took control of the company, destroyed the bond holders that invested fortunes into that company and reorganized the stock into about 60% for the government and 40% for the Union. That pretty much says it all for government intervention.

[sharpshepherd]

Why?  Because it's MINE.

[mustang607]

@Eopyk

The US is a mixed economy. Lots of socialists, lots of corporatists and a few free market people.

[donalddeano]

Mr. David Kelley is right. The Collective are trying to go after the people like Charles Payne & other successfully people that Mrs. Elizabeth Warren are trying to empower.

[TheDystopiaInside]

Ayn Rand is the black hole at the center of the universe.

[joyirisstaveley]

For those who believe in personal liberty and freedom, Atlas is a perfect work of art. The characters are very real, and the story is right on! My husband and I worked 15-16 hours days, 7 days a week to establish our business, and we loved it! I thought part I was excellent (including the actors) and cannot wait for part II. Atlas gives me hope that our rights are worth fighting for. There is nothing moral about others taking what is mine because they want it. That is how dictators are formed.

[joyirisstaveley]

For those who believe in personal liberty and freedom, Atlas is a perfect work of art. The characters are very real, and the story is right on! My husband and I worked 15-16 hours days, 7 days a week to establish our business, and we loved it! I thought part I was excellent (including the actors) and cannot wait for part II. Atlas gives me hope that our rights are worth fighting for. There is nothing moral about others taking what is mine because they want it. That is how dictators are formed.

[DanLetts97]

@deepfreezevideo2 Well said. You can't take this story or the characters literally. The thing that gets me the most about Ayns characters is that NONE of them had kids. Now, whats that got to do with anything? Lots. No man who works 18 hours a day is going to have a family for long, and man needs love, he needs a wife. Rand was too hardcore and I doubt even she worked as hard as her characters did. She went too far in her search for the ideal man.

[Timothyg85]

@Eopyk really? are you serious? look at the history and founding of our country. research when the first income tax was enacted? please read a history book, anyone,