I keep going over the Money Rant, which was very well done in the film. Good omens for how they’ll treat John Galt’s infamous book-length rant in the third film: condense to essentials, dramatize with camera work and character action throughout, and leave Ayn Rand’s words pretty much alone when they use them.
Go see it. You will be very happy that this film was made, in this hour, and that you can experience it with like-minded souls.
And no, I don’t think Jason Beghe looks the least bit like Mitt. The film has a message, but that ain’t it.
P.S.: Who is John Galt? This guy. Works for me, actually.
Apropos of nothing, I’d suggest reading these quotes from the Money Rant accompanied by either of the Ben Sage gems below:
Ben Sage — Second Sighting (Subsonik Remix):
If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose – because it contains all the others – the fact that they were the people who created the phrase ‘to make money’. No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity – to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted, or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words ‘to make money’ hold the essence of human morality.
Let me give you a tip on a clue to men’s characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.
When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears nor all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor – your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money.
Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth – the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him. But you look on and you cry that money corrupted him. Did it? Or did he corrupt his money?
Money is made – before it can be looted or mooched – made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.
…did you say it’s the love of money that’s the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men.
Men who have no courage, pride, or self-esteem, men who have no moral sense of their right to their money and are not willing to defend it as they defend their life, men who apologize for being rich – will not remain rich for long. They are the natural bait for the swarms of looters that stay under rocks for centuries, but come crawling out at the first smell of a man who begs to be forgiven for the guilt of owning wealth.
Phil featured this one before, but it’s worth a repost. Listen to it on the best soundsystem you’ve got, and start cranking it at 2:00 or thereabouts.