I was going to have my first diary be about hunger, or the effects of austerity, or parks or infrastructure. Well another good intention leads nowhere even though we need more people that care. I guess not clapping louder for more military action is frowned upon here. This place has more in common with Red State than people realize. USA all the way!
My topic is thus Ayn Rand as viewed from the perspective of two unemployed individuals on a bridge.
I won't explain the details of why I was on a bridge other than it is high up and few would bother to notice. A bearded man approached from the east walking a dog. He appeared to be in his late 30s. I avoided making eye contact but he had already zeroed in. He mentioned that few appreciate a good bridge anymore. Everything gets torn apart or left to decay, but this bridge was built to last he added. I nodded. Everything is gray and concrete now but this bridge hearkened to an era of metal and designed without use of a Microsoft program. County officials had decided to spend money to study its preservation.
I could add this gentleman's name but that is not important to the storyline. I could sense he was frustrated much like me. He had lost his job on the industrial side of town. He had spotted a safety hazard reported it and was immediately let go. For routine he walked his dog at a set time of day and read books. 1984, The Grapes of Wrath, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged were his recent conquests. Oddly enough he said they all made sense in today's economy climate. 1984 was what was going on in the country. The Grapes of Wrath told of the struggle. The Ayn Rand novels explained what to do about it. Contrary to it being exclusively about the rich, he deduced it was actually about everyone escaping a corrupt system most importantly yourself. Destroying Cortlandt was a means of self preservation and not letting the others take your ideas away. They would just corrupt them to their own selfish interests. Going Galt, well that is leaving for a place that will value your contribution to society.
The nature of the material in these books made politics a foregone conclusion in the conversation. He saw no real difference in parties anymore. “They are all shades of crazy.” With recent events I wondered if he really thought that. “One side does something criminal and the other does nothing about it, that pretty much means they accept it.” Protests, food stamps, budget crises were akin to reality television something for the noise machine but the outcome was already predetermined.
There was more truth to what he said than I originally thought at the time. After he walked away I went back to my vehicle, alive for another day. Eventually I will find a place that will value my contributions but this place is not one of them.