Bob Dylan and Ayn Rand

The Cinch Review reports on a piece published in Bob Dylan fan magazine Isis by Ronnie Keohane.

The piece focuses on where the words spoken by radio preacher come from.

See below extract from the Cinch Review (http://www.cinchreview.com/bob-dylan-and-ayn-rand/6226/)

The only power the government has is to crack down on criminals. When there aren’t enough criminals, you make them. You make so many things a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? You pass laws that can’t be observed or enforced or even objectively interpreted. You create a nation of lawbreakers and then you cash in on the guilt. That’s the system, that’s the game. Once you understand that you’ll sleep a lot easier.

Ronnie Keohane spotted a passage in Chapter III of Part II of Ayn Rand’s weighty opus Atlas Shrugged which is, well, rather similar. A character named Dr. Ferris is speaking to a character named Hank Reardon, and says this:

The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor even objectively interpreted—and you create a nation of law-breakers—and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.

With a nice little nod to Belle and Sebastian, Michael G. Smith has a great article on Dylan and film over at his superb filmblog White City Cinema. The article began as a piece written for this website in its previous incarnation and for the Dylan magazine Isis.

Here is an excerpt:

Like Dylan in the Movies

By michaelgloversmith (Sept 2010)

 

Something’s always happening in the world of Bob Dylan, even if you don’t know what it is, but this fall sees an unusual amount of activity on the part of the Bard of Minnesota. Before the end of the year, he will exhibit new paintings in Denmark (and release an accompanying coffee table book, “The Brazil Series”), as well as release two new CD sets: the 9th installment of the official Bootleg Series, focusing on demos recorded in the early ’60s, and an 8 disc set of his first 8 albums in mono (the way they were originally meant to be heard), all on compact disc for the first time. And of course, his never-ending tour will roll on with fall dates across the U.S., including a show in Champaign on October 22nd.


To commemorate, here is an essay I wrote about Masked and Anonymous, Dylan’s unjustly maligned 2003 movie collaboration with director Larry Charles. The original version appeared in the English Dylan fanzine “Isis” but this has been substantially reworked.

For more please visit his site -

 http://whitecitycinema.com/2010/09/29/like-dylan-in-the-movies/