By definition, “public good” is a commodity that is provided without benefit to ALL members of a society either by government, a private individual, or an organization. Hank Rearden proudly says, “The public good be damned. I will have no part of it!” (445) This profound statement brought the courtroom to an uproar of cheer and applause, leaving Hank just as startled as the three judges before him. His statement was bold. His statement set him apart from a great number of business men such as, “James Taggart and his friends” and brought him closer to strikers like Francisco d’Anconia. But why was it so courageous? And how does it set him part from others? What did he mean? These are questions that can been answered when taking a closer look into
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Another flaw that held him back for much too long was that he could not that realize his values could never intertwine with those of the so called “looters.” This is what ultimately keeps him out of John Galt’s Atlantis for much of the novel. His values where those of an objectivist not a looter. We know he struggles uphold his moral code to the looters when Francisco d’Anconia comes to him at his office. Francisco asks, “Why don’t you uphold your own code of values among men as you do your iron smelters? You won’t allow one percent of impurity into an alloy of metal-what you have allowed into your moral code?” (420) He goes on to say, “You have been scorned for all those qualities which are your highest pride. You have been called selfish for the courage of acting on your own judgment…You, who’ve created abundance where there had been nothing but wastelands and helpless, starving men before you, have been called a robber.” (421) Francisco assertively tells him, he left the “deadliest weapon” in the hands of the looters. The weapon of destruction being the looter’s moral code. This incident with Francisco is Hank Rearden’s
Another flaw that held him back for much too long was that he could not that realize his values could never intertwine with those of the so called “looters.” This is what ultimately keeps him out of John Galt’s Atlantis for much of the novel. His values where those of an objectivist not a looter. We know he struggles uphold his moral code to the looters when Francisco d’Anconia comes to him at his office. Francisco asks, “Why don’t you uphold your own code of values among men as you do your iron smelters? You won’t allow one percent of impurity into an alloy of metal-what you have allowed into your moral code?” (420) He goes on to say, “You have been scorned for all those qualities which are your highest pride. You have been called selfish for the courage of acting on your own judgment…You, who’ve created abundance where there had been nothing but wastelands and helpless, starving men before you, have been called a robber.” (421) Francisco assertively tells him, he left the “deadliest weapon” in the hands of the looters. The weapon of destruction being the looter’s moral code. This incident with Francisco is Hank Rearden’s