The Power of Atlas Shrugged

The influence of Ayn Rand in the culture, and of Atlas Shrugged in particular, continues to gain recognition.

On October 27, conservative radio personality and author Ben Shapiro was on Mark Levin’s radio show to promote his new political novel True Allegiance. During the interview, he explained why he wrote a work of fiction, saying “Sometimes you can convince people better that way. The same way that Atlas Shrugged did more for capitalism than probably Milton Friedman did . . .”

Ben is right. Atlas Shrugged has already had a profound impact on our culture (even if not reflected in our elections yet), influencing business leaders, thought leaders and a growing number of political leaders.

But Atlas Shrugged is not primarily about politics or economics. It is about a life-changing philosophy that teaches people to live up to their highest potential. And this is the real source of the novel’s profound influence, particularly among young people looking for guidance and inspiration. To see the impact of Atlas Shrugged, you cannot look only at the state of politics — you have to look at the millions of individuals whose lives have been changed by their encounter with Ayn Rand.

Every day we see evidence of the growing influence of Ayn Rand’s ideas. Support from our donors is allowing us to accelerate this process.