Атлант расправил плечи
The Exploiters and the Exploited
Ifyou’donlywaitforacoupleofyears—"
Reardenchuckled,gaily,contemptuously."Sothat’swhatyou’reafter?WantmetotakeReardenMetaloffthemarket?Why?"
"Onlyforafewyears,Mr.Rearden.Onlyuntil—"
"Look,"saidRearden."NowI’llaskyouaquestion:didyourscientistsdecidethatReardenMetalisnotwhatIclaimitis?"
"Wehavenotcommittedourselvesastothat."
"Didtheydecideit’snogood?"
"Itisthesocialimpactofaproductthatmustbeconsidered.Wearethinkingintermsofthecountryasawhole,weareconcernedwiththepublicwelfareandtheterriblecrisisofthepresentmoment,which—"
"IsReardenMetalgoodornot?"
"Ifweviewthepicturefromtheangleofthealarminggrowthofunemployment,whichatpresent—"
"IsReardenMetalgood?"
"Atatimeofdesperatesteelshortage,wecannotaffordtopermittheexpansionofasteelcompanywhichproducestoomuch,becauseitmightthrowoutofbusinessthecompanieswhichproducetoolittle,thuscreatinganunbalancedeconomywhich—"
"Areyougoingtoanswermyquestion?"
Themanshrugged."Questionsofvaluearerelative.IfReardenMetalisnotgood,it’saphysicaldangertothepublic.Ifitisgood—it’sasocialdanger.
