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We are continuing with the opening scene, with the confrontation between Eddie Willers and the bum.
_ _ _
He reached hastily into his pocket. The bum had stopped him and asked for a dime, then had gone on talking, as it to kill that moment and postpone the problem of the next. Pleas for dimes were so frequent in the streets these days that it was not necessary to listen to explanations, and he had no desire to hear the details of this bum’s particular despair.
“Go get your cup of coffee,” he said, handing the dime to the shadow that had no face.
-- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
_ _ _
You have to love the way that Ayn Rand reverses the old “Brother, can you spare me a dime?” meme. Remember: that started during the Great Depression, which represented a failure of capitalism. You got to love the chutzpah on this woman. She uses the meme to dramatize the failure of democracy and the New Deal.
_ _ _
He reached hastily into his pocket. The bum had stopped him and asked for a dime, then had gone on talking, as it to kill that moment and postpone the problem of the next. Pleas for dimes were so frequent in the streets these days that it was not necessary to listen to explanations, and he had no desire to hear the details of this bum’s particular despair.
“Go get your cup of coffee,” he said, handing the dime to the shadow that had no face.
-- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
_ _ _
You have to love the way that Ayn Rand reverses the old “Brother, can you spare me a dime?” meme. Remember: that started during the Great Depression, which represented a failure of capitalism. You got to love the chutzpah on this woman. She uses the meme to dramatize the failure of democracy and the New Deal.
