#like they're being so whiny about money because this company is NOT going to keep operating at a loss forever. They will shut it down

[crunchworldsupreme]

Ah fuck it, I lied! I won't be migrating to pillowfort completely. I just do not have the brainpower to maintain two things at once. I would still encourage people to sign up and at the very least snag your current username because I *really* think Automattic has a good chance of ruining tumblr or shuttering it because they can't make money off of it.

For now it's just going to be crossposting when I remember.

[atlas-plugged]

Atlas Shrugged Read-Through: PP 14-20

Our first introduction to the primary antagonist of Atlas Shrugged, Jim Taggart, is with him sitting at his desk saying "Don't bother me, don't bother me, don't bother me."

The unpleasant task that Eddie Willers has been facing is coming into Jim's office to tell him that a delivery of steel that has been delayed multiple times will be delayed again. Jim ordered the steel from his friend, Orren Boyle, who runs Associated Steel. Jim insists to Eddie that he won't hear of ordering the metal from the competing company, Rearden Steel, run by Hank Rearden. Taggart Transcontinental needs the steel because their Rio Norte line is too damaged to keep safely running trains on, and they are being outcompeted in the region by a small, local railroad called the Phoenix-Durango. Eddie is telling Jim to make a decision because the regional line supports the oil operation of Ellis Wyatt.

All of these are important characters and business that will come up a lot but they're not the real focus of this scene. The real focus of this scene is making Jim Taggart look like a big throbbing asshole, which is how you're supposed to think of him.

Here are a few of his lines from this brief scene:

"Who's thinking of giving up the Rio Norte Line?" he asked. "There's never been any question of giving it up. I resent your saying it. I resent it very much."

"Orren is my friend." He heard no answer. "I resent your attitude. Orren Boyle will deliver that rail just as soon as it's humanly possible. So long as he can't deliver it, nobody can blame us."

"Ellis Wyatt is a greedy bastard who's after nothing but money," said James Taggart. "It seems to me that there are more important things in life than making money."

"I think he's a destructive, unscrupulous ruffian. I think he's an irresponsible upstart who's been grossly overrated." It was astonishing to hear a sudden emotion in James Taggart's lifeless voice. "I'm not so sure that his oil fields are such a beneficial achievement. It seems to me that he's dislocated the economy of the whole country. Nobody expected Colorado to become an industrial state. How can we have any security or plan anything if everything changes all the time? [...] Yes, I know, I know, he's making money. But that is not the standard, it seems to me, by which one gauges a man's value to society. And as for his oil, he'd come crawling to us. and he'd wait his turn along with all the other shippers, and he wouldn't demand more than his fair share of transportation—if it weren't for the Phoenix-Durango. We can't help it if we're up against destructive competition of that kind. Nobody can blame us."

Jim Taggart is aggrieved. He is whiny, he doesn't accept responsibility for his actions, he resents people who are more active than he is (at least if they make demands on his time or cost him business by shifting their purchases to his competitors).

Jim is not written well, but the way that he is poorly written is interesting. Rand's big bad guy is an industrialist who doesn't take responsibility for his actions and who wants other people to do all of the hard work.

I'm going to get right to the big reveal in the middle of the book: Jim and the Moochers force through a law that means that nobody can compete with them. Other railroads shut down, new innovative companies have to give their capital to older businesses.

On the one hand, I think there's something clever that Rand is doing here. Jim and the Moochers use what is essentially "weaponized wokeness" (mealy-mouthed speeches about collectivism) to place themselves at the head of state-backed monopolies. They're not evil just because they're whiny and don't take responsibility, they're evil because they can use the power of the state to crush competitors, which also allows them to exploit workers and consumers.

On the other hand: I can't tell if Rand is being stupid or malicious in attributing the motivations for these actions to a collectivist impulse.

She clearly, obviously, deeply hated collectivism. But when each of her characters are revealed down to the nastiest, darkest parts of themselves it's revealed that their collectivist talk was meant to cover up personal greed. So I can't tell: stupid or malicious? Is she being stupid, and genuinely doesn't believe that anyone who talks about or works toward communal goods and shared resources actually wants those things? Or is she being malicious and suggesting that all people who claim to want to do things for the benefit of everyone are actually greedy and are trying to burn down the rest of the world so that they can stand on a slightly nicer bit of the ashes?

I haven't read much of Rand's non-fiction, or watched too many interviews with her, but I know that at one point she discussed the evils of altruism by saying that the Nazis were motivated by altruism. That seems like it's pulling a pretty bullshit rhetorical trick and defining "nationalism" as "altruism." And that's what she does with the evil characters in her books - makes them do terrible things while saying that they're doing so for the good of mankind when everybody knows the score. It's a bullshit rhetorical trick.

And this is how we're introduced to Jim Taggart. He's a wealthy industrialist who is whining to his sister's assistant that he can't be blamed that his friend is late with a delivery of steel. And I think Jim Taggart is a pretty good example of Rand being more malicious than stupid. We're going to learn a lot about his motivations and desires throughout the book and they come together to make a laboriously crafted strawman of an evil capitalist.

Anyway. Eddie walks out of their meeting after Jim insults his own sister; Eddie at that point finds an old clerk repairing a typewriter (one that has been repaired before and is made of inferior materials - planned obsolescence; a subject that I will have to yell about somewhere else) and asking Eddie if he knows where anyone can get woolen undershirts. Jim's office has been a break from the most visceral reminders of the bleak, slow-motion collapse of the economy that Eddie is confronted with as soon as he's out of the room again, and he is once again bothered by the question "Who is John Galt?" - the question that opened the novel in the mouth of a bum - as the introductory scene of the novel ends.

[fleeting-sanity]

New Year

Meh, another rant, please scroll past. I wish therapists exist here.

Ever since I lost the cat in my avatar, it feels like my life's been on a different trajectory. A downward spiral.

Eldest moved in with his family months ago, and bills have tripled with no contributions from his part. He made changes to the house that I despised. I hate seeing my elderly Dad having to pay for it all with his retirement. The money he gave me each month to pay for bills sometimes isn't enough and that means I'm paying for it. I allocated money each month for cat food and this is making a dent to it. But not a single peep from my parents when it comes to my brothers being losers though, criticism is only reserved for me. Because I have a pussy maybe? Because I'm the one actively talking to them to keep them company, but that apparently translates to them making me their emotional punching bag <3

I'm NOT going to pay for my brother's family, tf. What did he do all day, you may ask. Games on his phone, tiktok, then fishing trips. Little bit of money he earns goes towards rolling cigarettes.

They brought cats in without consulting me which is making Gepeng stressed. I'm not gonna change my mind that I'm noping out once Gepeng is gone too. This time however, I'm doing it out of spite.

I want to move out so bad. But I'm broke, jobless, old, depressed, and clueless. I want to be like those reddit stories where kids move out at 18 and be independent. I want that. But I don't live in a 1st world country. In here if you're poor, have fun starving to death. Welfare? Government aids? Those are as real as a unicorn. Living costs are sky high. Mental health? Nope you just have to seek GOD. I have no RL friends and my big extended family is struggling on their own. They are most likely to snitch anyways. I'm an easy trafficking target.

Yeah, big blowout with Mom because I've been quick to anger lately over my cat. She said the most vilest things to me but two can play this game. I'm not gonna delude myself into thinking I'm a good person. All the vile shit she said about me is true. I was calm because she's only telling me things I already know. I don't want to be her daughter anymore. Me & late brother shouldn't have been born. I am toxic.

Which leads me to my friendships. I'm an emotional vampire. I'm draining and whiny. No actions to improve my condition that I cried to them so much about. Of course they're gonna be sick of me, hell I'm sick of myself. I'm not talking to my family and friends anymore. I'm isolating myself because I feel... I've reached the endgame. I'm wary of relationships now. Of even friendships. I've had some kind souls reaching out to me but I don't feel like opening up anymore.

So for 2024, I think I'm going to try minimizing this pity party for myself and be as emotionally closed off as possible. I only have my cat to talk to and that's okay. She's shown me more mental compassion than the humans I called family and they're perplexed as to why am I so obsessed with cats. It's silly to them.

I used to pray to get more jobs but not anymore. Maybe this little saving I have may last a few years for feeding my cat alone. I don't need food or necessities. I'm always grateful to those who still want to support and buy art from me. Your help means more than I could ever express.

I used to say that I have endless amount of hope. But that stops now.