Throughout the passage, Rand addresses the audience the mislaid concepts of second-handers. Second-handers depends on others, whether in the form of seeking social approval as the measure of their own worth, or of following the opinions of others as authoritative, or of trying to dominate others in a quest for power. In this context, Rand gives examples of a young scientist who need donation money for an invention purpose and a chambermaid with an illegitimate child waiting to give birth. Similarly, both scenarios demonstrate as second-handers because they rely on people’s sympathy in order to receive more money. Generally speaking, both young adults could have been working on multiple jobs in order to gain money for an invention or hospital
