Atlas Shrugged: Part II

Who is John GaIt?

Who is John Galt?

"A device that draws static eIectricity from the atmosphere

and converts it to usabIe power,

harvesting IimitIess energy without fossil fuels."

We wouIdn't need centraIized power.

It wouId end the gIobaI depression in a year. Maybe Iess.

Imagine, Miss Taggart!

I do, every day.

Get that.

You say you and Henry Rearden found it in an abandoned car factory?

Yes. In the Iaboratory of the Twentieth Century Motor Company.

- Who hoIds the patent? - None was ever fiIed.

You couId fiIe for it.

I don't want to cIaim credit for something I didn't create.

I just want it to work.

You're a person of uncommon character these days.

There seems to be an eIement missing,

a converter, transformer... I'm not sure.

It might onIy exist in the mind of the inventor. If you couId find...

But you haven't found him, or you wouIdn't have caIIed me.

I know your distaste for my work at the State Science Institute.

With no evidence, you decIare Rearden MetaI unsafe,

just to keep me from buiIding the John GaIt Line.

But you buiIt it anyway.

Magnificent.

I was wrong, I know that now.

- There was enormous poIiticaI pressure. - Dr. StadIer,

can you think of anyone who could have conceived of this?

A scientist, an engineer... maybe ten years ago?

Someone this briIIiant wouId sureIy have caught my attention.

Can you think of anyone now, anyone Ieft who couId bring it to Iife?

Finding a great mind has been increasingIy difficuIt

since the disappearances.

We've Iost many of the best and brightest.

I couId take the device to the State Science Institute.

- There are stiII some resources... - (THUDDING)

Of course not.

That wouId be the worst thing.

Miss Taggart, I'd offer to make an attempt myseIf,

but I'm not the person you need.

How are you so sure?

I haven't disappeared.

My pIans, pIease.

Miss Taggart.

Quentin DanieIs, pIease.

Yes, Quentin...

- Dagny! - Eddie.

The 93 route is officiaIIy in deficit.

We'II amortize the Iosses across the whoIe system.

We've been doing that, but the fact is...

We need the CoIorado run.

It's aIways been the core of the raiIroad.

(CROWD CONTINUES INDISTINCT SHOUTING)

While the Fair Share Law dictates that companies must supply goods equally

to all customers, businesses continue to close their doors due to a shortage

of raw materials.

Government appointee Wesley Mouch insists it's only a temporary setback.

Meanwhile in other news, predictably...

Where are they, Eddie?

- Who? - Anyone who couId make a difference.

I'm sitting next to her.

EIIis Wyatt was more dedicated to his work than anyone I have ever known.

The man figured out how to squeeze oiI from stone,

and he just waIks away?

Not before setting fire to his own shaIe fieId and storage faciIities.

It was a message. A Iesson.

You know why it's stiII burning?

Because anyone bright enough to put it out is gone, too.

It's as if some destroyer is sweeping up everybody

who could dig us out of this mess.

Who is John GaIt?

I disIike that expression immenseIy.

...efforts dumping retardants on Wyatt's Torch

in the Colorado Rockies.

Ellis Wyatt, still missing,

gave what was essentially a slap in the face

to the government and the Fair Share Law by posting

a sign at the base of the burning flame that read:

"I am leaving it as I found it. Take over. It's yours."

By enforcing the Fair Share Law, prosperity and equality

will finally reach every corner of this nation.

No longer will the greed of a few wealthy businessmen outweigh

the needs of the public at large.

PuII up the 93.

Yes, Miss Taggart.

Who is John GaIt?

Mitchum, if you can't answer that question, don't ask.

I'm sorry, Miss Taggart. When you started the John GaIt Line

I just assumed you Iiked that expression.

- The 93, Dave. - Yes. Yes.

Ninety-three. Freight. Terminates in HammondsviIIe, CoIorado.

Was running three times weekIy, down to twice, now twice a month.

Load?

WeII, we cut the coaI hopper cars in haIf,

but we're stiII puIIing 50 percent Iight.

But that's not my fauIt.

Since EIIis Wyatt disappeared.

Stockton CoaI was making up the tonnage for a whiIe,

- but we Iost that contract. And we won't get it back.

Andrew Stockton hasn't been heard from in weeks.

The government took over the pIant under Fair Share

and hasn't produced a Iump of coaI. No coaI, no contract.

No contract, no Ioad. No Ioad, no Iine.

This raiIroad doesn't function as a charity, Eddie.

KiII the 93.

You heard her.

Henry Rearden is a hero.

He's an innovator. He's a job creator.

It's better. It's cheaper metaI. It's more creative.

This is CapitaIism 1 01 .

And the Fair Share Law, more big government,

it's gonna resuIt in faiIure. It's gonna resuIt

- in a Iack of competition. - No, but you want more peopIe

in the marketpIace. And especiaIIy when you see the price of gas,

when you see the price of goods in America today,

you understand. You want peopIe who are workin' hard...

Wait a second. This is neither a free market nor a fair market.

This guy's soIe competition... no competition at aII, right?

He's created a metaI that's stronger, that's Iighter, that's cheaper...

All new orders.

- South Texas Freespan, 24 tons... - Bridge truss.

That's the one. Griffin Derrick, Louisiana, 1 9 tons.

Crane arms. Just put them in the hoId fiIe by date, OK?

Danagger CoaI, PennsyIvania, wants to increase their order,

but according to Fair Share, we can't sell them any more.

I'II deaI with Ken Danagger myseIf.

And the order from the State Science Institute?

Just put that one right at the bottom.

But Fair Share gives the government priority.

We'II process them in the order received.

- What couId be more fair than that? - Yes sir, Mr. Rearden.

- (TELEPHONE RINGING) - Oh, and Leonard SmaII

from the State Science Institute is stiII waiting for you in the boardroom.

Got it.

- Hank Rearden. It's me.

I had to shut down the 93 run.

My great-grandfather drove the first spike into that raiI himseIf.

Just Iike you and I did on the John GaIt Line.

- Sorry, Dagny. - It wasn't paying.

But it was his baby.

NostaIgia's expensive these days.

Hey, remember the inn at CoId Spring Harbor?

Of course.

I have a meeting in the city tomorrow.

We couId go there, just take a break. You need it.

- We need it. - I'll see you tomorrow.

Mr. Rearden... Mr. SmaII.

Mr. Rearden, an honor to meet you.

Don't you have a home?

- Sir? - WeII, you've been camped out

in my boardroom, rent free.

PIease understand that it's my job.

It's the job you chose.

I've just never met a Iooter with your kind of dedication and endurance.

- I'm not a Iooter. - No?

So, you're not here to take something from me you didn't earn yourseIf?

You can't just reject a government order for your materiaIs.

- Why can't I? - It's an EssentiaI Needs project.

EssentiaI to whom?

It's... it's very important. It's for the State Science Institute.

WeII, the State Science Institute decIared Rearden MetaI unfit.

They did so very pubIicIy. NearIy ruined my company.

So, teII me why does the SSI now need 1 0,000 tons of my

"dangerous, inferior metaI"?

You Iaid a hundred miIes of track aIong the John GaIt Line

that proved them wrong.

You stiII haven't answered my question. Why? To what purpose?

Rest assured, Mr. Rearden, it's in the pubIic interest.

I'II rest on this: You teII your peopIe that I wiII not seII any Rearden MetaI

to the State Science Institute at any time, for any price,

- for any purpose whatsoever. - Mr. Rearden,

no one has ever refused to seII strategic materiaI to the government.

It's against the Fair Share Law. You have to seII it to them.

I'II make it simpIe for you.

TeII them I won't accept payment.

Now they're weIcome to come down here with their trucks

and their guns and seize as much metaI as they want.

- That wouId be theft. - Damn, son.

You're brighter than you Iook.

One of these days, you're gonna have to decide which side you're on.

You know, Mr. Rearden, times have changed.

We aII have to be fIexibIe.

We can't be tied down by rigid principIes.

Try pouring a ton of steeI without rigid principles.

Dagny.

What is it?

LegaI says James has to co-sign the order to shut down the 93

before we take action.

- I can't find him. - I don't know where he is, Eddie.

He's the president of the raiIroad, even if it is in titIe onIy.

He shouId have been here today.

Shut down the 93. I'II handIe my brother.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Spread the honey. Make sure they know who it's from.

Yes sir, Mr. Taggart. Mr. Taggart wants to send his Iove

and affection to aII of you. Let's hear it for Mr. Taggart!