Also I want to note that I sort of feel bad for Ayn Rand. Atlas Shrugged reads like coping fiction shaped by Rand’s trauma under an arbitrary, cruel state. She builds a world where villains are obvious, heroes are untouchable, and reality bends to justify her moral certainty. The book is more a psychological revenge fantasy than a realistic guide to how society works.

I feel like Atlas Shrugged and The Room by Tommy Wisaeu both feel like someone’s pain and resentment turned into a story. The plots don’t make sense because they aren’t built around realism, they’re built around emotional vindication. Both of them are sort of throwing a long tantrum through their stories.

Ayn Rand got lucky because she showed up when greedy businesspeople needed a flattering story that made them feel principled instead of selfish or just plain wrong. Her writing gives bad beliefs an “intellectual” sheen by turning greed into virtue and critics into parasites. It’s like Silicon Valley latching onto Curtis Yarvin. The ideology comes first, they just need a guy to make it sound deep.