Author Stephen Goldstein Takes on Objectivism and Randian Philosophies in Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned!

    FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, April 05, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned! begins where Atlas Shrugged leaves off, with the United States of America having devolved into the United Corporations of America and a world where the divide between the 99% and the 1% is ever prevalent. Stephen Goldstein's book offers the 99% a vision for closing that gap.

Imagine firefighters stand watching a house burn because the owner owed some back taxes or municipal fees. Imagine the government providing no relief at all to a hurricane-ravaged Florida.

That non-action is the (fortunately) fictitious exemplification of Ayn Rand's philosophies in the novel Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned!, an Orwellian novel by Stephen L. Goldstein.

In a nation whose rights include "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and whose Constitution directs the government to provide for the "general welfare" of its people, the Randian philosophy seems at direct odds. Yet based on today's Republican Party pursuing an agenda that favors the rich at the expense of the needy, the "What If" scenarios discussed in Goldstein's novel are not that far from reality.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and the House Budget Committee's budget proposal to cut spending on "income security" programs for the poor -- that's everything from food stamps to housing assistance to the earned-income tax credit--slow relief for Hurricane Sandy victims, the FDA's inaction to regulate items such as energy drinks and even institutions such as Florida Gulf Coast University teaching Rand's principles in its economics department (while being a publicly funded University itself) are all examples of Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned!'s scenarios coming to fruition.

Atlas Drugged Author Goldstein stated, "If we as citizens fail to keep close watch on the political system, that "What If" inches closer to reality. We are seeing the influence of her ideas being played out in front of us and it is truly frightening."

As Goldstein wrote on the summary of the book, "This is a work of fiction. But any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely intentional. The names have been changed but, hopefully, not enough to protect the guilty".

Ordering Information: Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned! is available in bookstores nationwide, through www.barnesandnoble.com, www.amazon.com, and other online booksellers.

Media interested in reviewing copies of the book can send requests to Emily Taffel, Mugsy PR, [email protected].

About Stephen Goldstein
Author, journalist, and radio and TV talk show host Stephen L. Goldstein is an op-ed columnist for The Sun-Sentinel (Tribune paper in South Florida). His columns have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Baltimore Sun, and other leading publications. Goldstein earned his bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. at Columbia University and currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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