j1b Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Atlas Shrugged is prophetic. And Scary. And almost too insightful considering when it was written. I don't agree with ALL of it, but I can't ignore the commonalities between the story and how the world is spinning today . . . A great read. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
et45 Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Note to self,read Atlas Shrugged and Unintended Consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 (edited) Jim, I have to disagree about the last part being out of bounds. With the scenario presented by the book the atf agent was breaking the law to get back at a person that as far as the story was concerned, did not break the law, but had embarrassed the agent. So if it is ok for the fictional character to break the law and use his authority to get his way thru whatever means it took, then it is ok for a fictional character who is the victim to do what is necessary to defend and embarrass a govt. agency. All the book was doing was showing how as govt. gets larger it has groups that abuse the authority and that is the unintended consequence. +1 All the LEO I personally know are also men of honor. However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO. The point is that power in government corrupts and causes unintended consequences. The atrocities can only be committed through the government’s agents. The government, itself, cannot act but through their agents. To say that the book is a blueprint for murder is misplaced IMO. Edited December 10, 2007 by chp5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconpilot Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 "To say that the book is a blueprint for murder is misplaced IMO." +1 Jim, I have to disagree about the last part being out of bounds. With the scenario presented by the book the atf agent was breaking the law to get back at a person that as far as the story was concerned, did not break the law, but had embarrassed the agent. So if it is ok for the fictional character to break the law and use his authority to get his way thru whatever means it took, then it is ok for a fictional character who is the victim to do what is necessary to defend and embarrass a govt. agency. All the book was doing was showing how as govt. gets larger it has groups that abuse the authority and that is the unintended consequence. +1 All the LEO I personally know are also men of honor. However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO. The point is that power in government corrupts and causes unintended consequences. The atrocities can only be committed through the government’s agents. The government, itself, cannot act but through their agents. To say that the book is a blueprint for murder is misplaced IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 For those of you who didn't like the last 1/3 of Unintended Consequences: how would you suggest John Ross should have/could have ended the book? I appreciate the suggestion to read Atlas Shrugged. I've been listening to it on audio book and am about 2/3 of the way through. Great book so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Ho Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO. Minor point of disagreement here. It wasn't an entire race that was imprisoned. Not even a majority. Just certain parts of the country. Pretty much the west coast. I'm am in no way excusing what happened, hell it affected a bunch of my relatives, I'm just being picky. I will tell you though, even where they weren't 'interned' Japanese were watched pretty closely by the FBI. My grandfather was in Nebraska at the time. While still in high school he was questioned by the FBI for buying batteries. Back to topic, the book was entertaining. A little disturbing, at times it pissed me off, but taken as a whole it was a good book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Note to self,read Atlas Shrugged and Unintended Consequences. You have a lot on your plate!!! Hope you do it! FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 However, the US government has committed many atrocities including slavery, killing, starving and taking the land of many Native Americans, unscrupulous medical testing on some minorities, imprisonment of an entire race of CITIZENS during WWII, and the list goes on. And the US government is probably the best government in history IMO. Minor point of disagreement here. It wasn't an entire race that was imprisoned. . . I will tell you though, even where they weren't 'interned' Japanese were watched pretty closely by the FBI. Thanks for the info. It's still pretty shocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scap99 Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 (edited) I know this thread is older than dirt, but I just wanted to say that the two books contained in this thread are some of the best books I have read in my adult life. I truly hope that neither book is prophetic, but I can see how there are things happening today that would suggest differently. I thoroughly enjoyed both Unintended Consequences and Atlas Shrugged. Edited June 24, 2010 by scap99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Ennis Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I first read Atlas Shrugged about four years ago and really enjoyed it. The Fountainhead is a great read also and i try to re-read each one about once a year. I will now be getting a copy of Unintended Consequences and hope it meets the standard set by the other two books i mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scap99 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 I really liked both books, but for different reasons. Sort of like a classic Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard fight compared to a UFC fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerad Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 I've wanted to read Unintended Consequences since I first heard of it a couple of years ago. Guess I'll have to go find it. I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead when I was in high school in the 70s. They were good -- I really ought to read them again. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scap99 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 I loaned my copy to my dad a couple years ago...I really should get it back, he'll never read it, and I am getting the itch to re-read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 I'm unsure of the legality of this, but I found a pdf version of Unintended Consequences: http://members.cox.net/zack3g/unintended%20consequences.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowdy-Finn Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Wow! What a read! I love that book/story! Wish I could afford to pass em' out to everyone I think would read it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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