E25 - Spectacularly Worthless

A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains some information about Francisco d'Anconia that has not yet been revealed in the book, but it's not really that big of a spoiler.
Jonathan begins this episode riffing on the phrase "spectacularly worthless" which is used to describe Francisco d'Anconia when he's introduced to the reader in Chapter 3 of Atlas Shrugged. While analyzing the purpose of Francisco d'Anconia's character in the book, Jonathan makes a connection to Ayn Rand's effort to address the Achilles heel of libertarian morality: inherited wealth. Next, Jonathan explains the cultural associations surrounding Saint Sebastian, which is what Francisco d'Anconia uses as the name of his fake copper mine in Mexico (San Sebastian). Jonathan compares d'Anconia's mine to the 21st-century American companies Theranos, WeWork, and Uber. In this chapter, Ayn Rand caricatures development economics and caricatures Mexico's socialist government. Jonathan ends the episode with a discussion of burnout in a dysfunctional system.
My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

1. What is human nature?
2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
3. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it?

Questions or comments? Email me at: [email protected]
Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art
If you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)
The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.
The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialy.

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