Atlas Shrugs in Venezuela

[Steve Schear]

A recent news article described the nationwide strike in Venezuela, in 
protest against the nascent dictatorship of Hugo Chavez, as seeming "like 
something from fiction." Well, yes, it seems very similar to one work of 
fiction in particular: Ayn Rand's prophetic 1957 novel, "Atlas Shrugged."

The parallels between fiction and fact are striking. In Ayn Rand's novel, 
America is sliding into an economic dictatorship, so inventors and 
businessmen lead a secret walk-out, withdrawing their support from the 
"looters" who want to plunder the wealth they create. They declare that 
they won't return until the looters relinquish power.
Rand's working title for the novel was "The Strike." In an era of frequent, 
sometimes violent strikes by factory workers, it was shockingly original to 
suggest that the entrepreneurs, inventors and capitalists might go on strike.

Ayn Rand's imagined strike is no longer fiction. For four years, Venezuela 
has been gradually sliding into an economic and political dictatorship 
under Marxist populist Hugo Chavez, an open admirer of Fidel Castro and 
Saddam Hussein. In response, the nation's largest federation of businessmen 
has led the nation for more than 40 days in a massive work stoppage. 
Venezuela's most productive citizens have gone on strike to protest their 
imminent liquidation under Chavez's communist revolution.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0103/tracinski.html


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delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used,
are but three different names for hypocrisy,
chicanery, and cowardice." -- John Adams