Social System In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

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“Who is John Galt?” is the key question in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged. This recurring question is in reference to the identity of a mysterious character. Its significance, however, has a far deeper meaning.
The novel follows Dagny Taggart, vice president of Taggart Transcontinental Railroad. She runs the company, along with her brother James, an inept president. She later leaves the company, and teams up with Henry Rearden, creator of Rearden Metal, to build her own railroad: the John Galt Line. At the novel’s start, some of the United States’ most gifted business leaders and entrepreneurs are going missing. Dagny’s friend, Ellis Wyatt, later disappears as well, setting fire to his oil wells. Dagny and Rearden later discover a powerful, …show more content…

They excel at what they do and value their accomplishments, as much as an artist would take pride in a masterpiece. Ayn Rand emphasizes that their work is just as creative and that they fully devote themselves to their industries, technologies, and sciences.
Rand also shows the importance and freedom of a capitalist system through Galt and his followers. In Atlas Shrugged, the economy is rapidly becoming more and more socialist. In chapter 7, the Equalization of Opportunity Bill is passed, which strips many characters, including Rearden, of the ownership of their companies they worked hard for. It steals from the rich and redistributes the wealth; the manufacturers are powerless to keep the fortunes they've earned and are forced to carry the incompetent. They are penalized for hard work and lesser men are rewarded for their lack of accomplishment.
The novel explores the role of man's mind in existence. In addition, it shows that the future of America will only be destroyed by collectivism. John Galt and the supporters of his beliefs, stand by the words "I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for

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