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Entrepreneurs Aren't Shrugging

 

In reading your review of Robert Reich's The Next American Frontier (Speaking Out, October), I couldn't help but pick out strains of Ayn Rand's famous book, Atlas Shrugged, in which companies operated, as Reich describes, "for the benefit . . . of their workers," and all business decisions were made by "federal planners drawn from the ranks of corporate executives, union officials, and government regulators." The nation's intellectuals prescribed that businesses be run by "social merit and economic advantage." The People States of the world fell into ruin and the "planners" had to decide who "needed" the most of what.

Reich's book should be studied only with Ayn Rand's work (written 24 years ago), so that Walter Mondale and other aspirants to Reich's philosophy can see where it could lead. Business is already against further government intervention. The fruits of my talent are available for sale to whomever wishes to purchase them, and the public regulates that output by not buying those goods at my price. I am not in business for the good of the public at the sacrifice of my talent; I am in business to earn money. The dollar is the one true measure of my talent and of the worth of the United States.

I will not offer my money to Mr. Reich for his book nor my vote to those who accept his premise. His philosophy is shortsighted and not even original. I certainly hope INC. remains the showcase for the entrepreneur and American business philosophy.