No, there’s one born every minute. It’s a fun book to read, and it appeals to Americans strongly.
But the notion that John Galt could make the trains run on time, while it is a compelling one, is patently absurd. It fits the nostalgic Wild West individualism so much a part of the American meme. But it’s also absolute bunk. No one man can acquire all the rights-of-way, engineer all the track and bridges, lay the track and maintain it, build the locomotive and all the cars, mine the fuel to drive the engine, be the train’s engineer, conductor, brakeman and porters, man all the crossings and control centers that operate all the switches, sell the tickets for passengers and book all the freight, staff all the freight warehouses and drive all the forklifts… You get the picture. Ayn Rand’s iconoclastic character, John Galt, makes it all work.
Suggesting the entrepreneur is that important, that capable, is utter rubbish. Every great inventor or entrepreneur gets his raw materials and delivers his finished products over roads and bridges we all paid to build and maintain. His very idea came from a foundation of knowledge we all built, including much we all directly paid to research. The labor pool he hires to man his factories and offices and be his sales force was educated by schools and teachers we all paid to provide.
I love entrepreneurs, and God bless them if they have a great idea and put thousands of people to work. But let’s never forget that they stand on the shoulders of millions of ordinary people. Without those shoulders to stand on, they would be no taller than you or I. They can’t evenhandedly make the trains run on time any more than Rand’s fictitious Government could.