Will Germans finally warm to Ayn Rand?

Ayn Rand has become the philospher for the Republican Party in the US. Her novel Atlas Shrugged continues to sell well more than 30 years after her death.  Randian philosophy is the cornerstone of Republican standard-bearer Paul Ryan's budget, which rewards the wealthy "job creators" and punishes the loser "takers" or "moochers."  Ryan distributes copies of Atlas Shrugged to his staff so that they, too, can become indoctrinated with Ayn Rand's radical libertarian vision.

Ayn Rand never really caught on in Germany, and the German translation of Atlas Shrugged has been out of print for years.  But all of that has now changed thanks to the efforts of a young insurance executive in Munich - Kai John.  John believes the time is ripe for an Ayn Rand revolution in Germany: 

The plot of Ayn Rand’s controversial 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged couldn’t be more relevant to Germany as the European financial crisis unfolds—or so contends a young Munich executive, Kai John, who has published a new translation of the libertarian classic. In the novel, the brightest and most productive citizens (i.e. the Germans!) deeply resent having to support the weaker members of society and rebel, leaving society in tatters, a fate that could befall the Continent if Angela Merkel and the German parliament refuse to bolster the European Union’s straggling economies. A series of bailouts has left John, 36, a vice president at a multinational financial services company, feeling like Rand’s hero, John Galt: “The time is here to make Germans aware that collectivism has its limits.”

John invested his life savings to acquiring the German rights to the book, commissioning a new translations, and self-publishing 5000 copies.  The first printing has now sold out, and John is looking to print more. John wisely used Rand's working title for the novel - The Strike - for the new German verson.

While Germans are (re)discovering their "inner John Galt", thanks to Kai John's enthusiasm and efforts, Americans have turned their back on Ayn Rand, and soundly rejected Paul Ryan and the philosophy of greed at the ballot box.  A recently-released film version of Atlas Shrugged was a miserable failure at the box office. 

Comments

[Harvey Morrell]

I have a first edition of Atlas wirft die Welt ab. If you want it, it's yours.

[David]

Thanks Harvey, but I think I'll pass on your generous offer.

I tried reading it once in English and couldn't stomach it. I don't imagine it's any better in German translation.

[Harvey Morrell]

David, what it lacks in readability it makes up for in length. :-) I found it at a flohmark in Murnau for 5 DM and couldn't resist.

[David]

5DM? I'm afraid you overpaid, Harvey.

[dennis]

Harvey, how accurate is the translation? There Is a recent translation effort called "the strike - der streik" after the first title by Rand, which should I buy? I want it for a German friend of mine.