XPost: talk.politics.libertarian, alt.anarchism, alt.society.anarchy
From: bert@iphouse.com
In news:anarcissie-A82B5F.10342601072010@reader1.panix.com Anarcissie
wrote:
> I missed the part about an engine than ran on zero-cost fuel.
> Something like that would indeed be worthy of science fiction -- it
> would radically change the world by producing unlimited stuff
> and therefore unmanageable surpluses, obviating the
> need for a special elite to own and manage industrial
> production. I certainly don't recall anything like
> _that_ in _AS_, or being said about it, either.
Those men, long ago, tried to invent a motor that would draw
static electricity from the atmosphere, convert it and create
its own power as it went along. They couldn't do it. They gave
it up." She pointed at the broken shape. "But there it is."
He nodded. He was not smiling. He sat looking at the remnant,
intent on some thought of his own; it did not seem to be a happy
thought. "Hank! Don't you understand what this means? It's the
greatest revolution in power motors since the
internal-combustion engine- greater than that! It wipes
everything out-and makes everything possible. To hell with
Dwight Sanders and all of them! Who'll want to look at a Diesel?
Who'll want to worry about oil, coal or refueling stations? Do
you see what I see? A brand-new locomotive half the size of a
single Diesel unit, and with ten times the power. A
self-generator, working on a few drops of fuel, with no limits
to its energy. The cleanest, swiftest, cheapest means of motion
ever devised. Do you see what this will do to our transportation
systems and to the country-in about one year?"
> So what happens with this motor? It doesn't seem to have
> turned everything over,
It was intentionally witheld from the world by its inventor, which is a
concrete example of the underlying premise of the entire novel.
"Give it up, Miss Taggart," he said quietly, as if giving proof
that he could guess her thoughts, as she had known he would. "It
is a hopeless quest, the more hopeless because you have no
inkling of what an impossible task you have chosen to undertake.
I would like to spare you the strain of trying to devise some
argument, trick or plea that would make me give you the
information you are seeking. Take my word for it: it can't be
done. You said I'm the end of your trail. It's a blind alley,
Miss Taggart, Do not attempt to waste your money and effort on
other, more conventional methods of inquiry: do not hire
detectives. They will learn nothing. You may choose to ignore my
warning, but I think that you are a person of high intelligence,
able to know that I know what I am saying. Give it up. The
secret you are trying to solve involves something greater-much
greater-than the invention of a motor run by atmospheric
electricity. There is only one helpful suggestion that I can
give you: By the essence and nature of existence, contradictions
cannot exist. If you find it inconceivable that an invention of
genius should be abandoned among ruins, and that a philosopher
should wish to work as a cook in a diner-check your premises.
You will find that one of them is wrong.
> because as I recall at the end the Great Leader is still leading the
> charge.
"The road is cleared," said Galt. "We are going back to the
world." He raised his hand and over the desolate earth he traced
in space the sign of the dollar.
--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN bert@iphouse.com
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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