Ayn Rand Shrugged

   Capitalism is considered synonymic with the United States and lies at the heart of the American Dream. Capitalism is heralded as the bringer of technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and people functioning under the capitalistic system have produced great feats of progress. But the wheel was given to us freely from the dark pages of history.
   99%'ers or 1%'ers they are both chasing the same pie-in-the-sky. If every dollar was compiled the distribution would be 1% of the wealth to 99% of the population and vice versa. However the argument of the 99% hinges on the idea that the same amount of money should be distributed in a more equal manner. There hasn't been an uprising against capitalism, we think the system works, there has been an uprising against the accumulation of wealth. The philosophy of the rebellion is flawed in attempting to maintain the established system while removing the reward system which perpetuates the economy.
   Enter Ayn Rand with her diabolical hyper-capitalism and fair-trade ideology. Within the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged is the direct relationship between the national economy and capitalism. The relationship seems direct in a cause/affect way but there are multiple side effects to the collaboration. Recent examples of corporations excluding the 99% include Ing, Fanny Mae and Bernie Madoff. By focusing solely on the good of the individual, and corporations are considered individuals, these companies created the housing bubble, a legendary ponzi scheme and the toxic assets.
   The large examples are easy to point a finger at, their cause and full affect might not yet be understood but they are known and identified. It is the little decisions that expose companies for their overly self serving tendencies.
   My petty example is the iphone5. Apple enjoyed influencing the economy and sister technological development. With the advent of ipods the headphone companies were compelled to individualize an
d customize their product, a perfect example of symbiotic growth. Likewise multiple companies developed ipod players based around the 35 prong outlet, with the iphone5 though Apple decided to neglect the established system of plugging phones in for one based on auxiliary cords. In one swoop Apple has tried to create a new vein of consumability through the replacement of goods purchased for now "obsolete" technology.
    Apple is not the Hank Rearden or Dagny Taggart of the modern age despite their wanting to be viewed in such a heroic light. Likewise the individuals that are disappearing are not going to a capitalistic utopia they are going to jail.
    The truth about Ayn Rand and her vision of our purely economic based society is that Atlas doesn't shrug, he tilts the world to increase the sale of safety devices.