Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged v. SEDM Mission Statement
This article addresses similarities between the theme of Ayn Rand’s book entitled Atlas Shrugged on the one hand and the SEDM Articles of Mission, Form #01.004 and Ministry Introduction, Form #12.014 on the other hand.
From a very young age, we at SEDM have been strongly affected by the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and her brand of objectivism. We had no idea how prophetic her book would be when we first read it at a young age. We had to study law extensively before we understood and appreciated her philosophy at the deepest levels. She is uniquely qualified to comment on the perils of socialism, given that she was a dissident who fled the former Soviet Union and the communism/socialism that it implemented.
Our ministry has focused on fighting socialism (Form #05.016) just like her book. Below are some key audio excerpts from the movie version of this book:
John Galt Speech:
John Galt identifies the problem with society, which is that everything the government does is designed to increase the power and importance of political rulers at the expense of people, ultimately culminating in the equivalent of statist worship of politicians as pagan gods. We talk about this in Form #05.016. When he says that the industrialists “disappeared”, he means they abandoned the civil statutory office of “person” and became private and anonymous.
Bargain between U.S. President Thompson and John Galt:
The “deal” the president offers Galt is the SAME deal that Satan offers all men. Click here for a dramatization of such a “deal”. When John Galt says to the President at the end “Get out of the way”, what he means is “let everyone alone”. This is the legal definition of “justice” itself: The Right to be “let alone”. See Form #05.050 for proof. To “let them alone” means to stop trying to CIVILLY control them, which indirectly means enforce only the criminal law, constitution, and common law instead of the civil statutory law.
The main differences between her book and our ministry are:
| # | Characteristic | SEDM | Atlas Shrugged Book |
| 1 | Intended audience | Believers fighting for freedom in court | The general populace |
| 2 | Opponent | Socialism (Form #05.016) | Socialism |
| 3 | John Galt symbolizes | Jesus Christ | Leader of freedom seekers |
| 4 | John Galt’s persecution symbolizes | Crucifixion of Christ and all those who follow him | Persecution of freedom seekers |
| 5 | Atlantis in the movie symbolizes | Heaven | Place on earth where freedom prevails |
| 6 | Going to Atlantis symbolizes | Separation/sanctification from the world and changing your civil status to exclusively PRIVATE | Abandoning all government benefits and privileges and adopting personal responsibility |
| 7 | Goal of goverment | Convert all PRIVATE property to PUBLIC property (Form #12.025) | Control/own everything and everyone |
| 8 | Significance of John Galt’s saying at the entrance of his power plant (see below) | Symbolizes requirement for equal protection and equal treatment. See Form #05.033. | Symbolizes an agreement to remain PRIVATE and be owned or controlled by NO ONE |
| 9 | John Galt’s speech to the masses and its meaning | SEDM Website spreading the truth | A wake up call to common sense. |
| 10 | Meaning of “justice” (Form #05.050) | Right to be left alone | John Galt states to the President “Get out of the way”, which is equivalent to “leave me alone” |
| 11 | Source of justice | Personal responsibility for self | The oath above John Galt’s energy machine (see below), which is the equivalent of taking responsibility for self and NOT others. |
| 12 | Proposed money system | Gold (Form #05.041) | Gold coins minted in Atlantis. Click here for long dialogue from book on money. |
| 13 | Criteria for entry into “freedom” | Member Agreement, Form #01.001, which requires no “benefits” and personal responsibility | Oath, which requires no “benefits” and personal responsibility |
| 14 | Government structure to implement freedom | Constitutional government based on Form #13.002 | No government in Atlantis. Capitalism, free market, and self-government replaces it |
| 15 | Source of evil | Collective rights (Form #12.024) greater than individual rights, exchange of PRIVATE rights for PUBLIC privileges (Form #12.025). | Collective power greater than individual power |
| 16 | Source of government authority to control private property | Franchises (Forms #05.030, 12.012) | Never identified in the movie. This is a glaring oversight. They use the word “special privileges” in the movie several times but fail to identify exactly what it means. Click here for book interchange on tricks with the law. |
| 17 | Spiritual Perspective | Christianity | Atheism (Ayn Rand was an Atheist) |
| 18 | Ultimate lawgiver | God (see Form #13.001) | Your conscience limited to never hurting or forcing others to your will (resulting in total anarchy and NOT freedom. See Form #08.020) |
| 19 | Government corruption protected by | Judicial Corruption. Litigation Tools #01.009 and #08.001. | Judicial corruption. Click here for judicial corruption dialog. Click here for court trial. |
Further reading and research:
- Ayn Rand on Youtube (OFFSITE LINK)
- Ayn Rand Institute
- Ayn Rand’s Books
- Atlas Shrugged Book, Ayn Rand (Amazon)
- Who is John Galt? (OFFSITE LINK) -Family Guardian
- Atlas Shrugged Movie Part 1 (OFFSITE LINK) -Amazon
- Atlas Shrugged Movie Part 2 (OFFSITE LINK) -Amazon
- Atlas Shrugged Movie Part 3 (OFFSITE LINK) -Amazon
- Understanding Ayn Rand (OFFSITE LINK) – Prager University
- Ayn Rand Interview (OFFSITE LINK) -in this interview with Phil Donahue, she admits three times that the main source of injustice in society is government granted privileges. On this site, we call such “privileges” franchises and we discuss them at length in Government Instituted Slavery Using Franchises, Form #05.030
- The Book Club: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand with Eric Daniels (OFFSITE LINK)-PragerU
- Fireside Chat Ep. 174 — A Dialogue About God and Ayn Rand (OFFSITE LINK) -PragerU
By “do not sacrifice” we believe Rand is referring to how idolatry towards government is implemented, Another word for such idolatry is “statism”. See Form #05.016
We interpret this statement to mean:
- NEVER surrender your equality in relation to anyone else, including the government. Form #05.033. This is because EQUALITY is the foundation of all your freedom. See Form #12.021, Video 1
- Deal with others only by consent and never by force, or coercion of any kind. Form #05.003.
- Never deal deceptively with anyone. The government and legal profession have made a BUSINESS out of doing so using “words of art” and equivocation. Form #05.014.
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