E34 - Dan Conway

A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

Jonathan first discusses the short scene between Dagny and James. The "secret" that Dagny detects in James Taggart's smile is probably the short-term advantage possessed by those who are willing to use brute force or political maneuvering to achieve their goal.
In the scene between Dagny and Dan Conway, we meet another "man's man" who built a successful enterprise in a rags-to-riches fashion. For the first time in the book, college education gets mentioned with disdain in a way that can be connected to the disdain of elite technocrats in the political culture of the USA in the early 21st century. To illustrate the tension between technocratic and grassroots viewpoints, Jonathan mentions the Indian farmers' protests of 2020-2021.
Jonathan then compares Dan Conway's decision to the Crito Dialogue by Plato.
Dan Conway expresses faith in democracy, but there are severe flaws with pure democracy. James Madison offers the most classic explanation of the problems with pure democracy in Federalist Paper 10.
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
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The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.
The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial

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