Atlas finanskrisversionen

”I heard the thugs in Washington were trying to take your Rearden metal at the point of a gun,” she said. ”Don’t let them, Hank. With your advanced alloy and my high-tech railroad, we’ll revitalize our country’s failing infrastructure and make big, virtuous profits.”

”Oh, no, I got out of that suckers’ game. I now run my own hedge-fund firm, Rearden Capital Management.”

”What?”

He stood and adjusted his suit jacket so that his body didn’t betray his shameful weakness. He walked toward her and sat informally on the edge of her desk. ”Why make a product when you can make dollars? Right this second, I’m earning millions in interest off money I don’t even have.”

He gestured to his floor-to-ceiling windows, a symbol of his productive ability and goodness.

”There’s a whole world out there of byzantine financial products just waiting to be invented, Dagny. Let the leeches run my factories into the ground! I hope they do! I’ve taken out more insurance on a single Rearden Steel bond than the entire company is even worth! When my old company finally tanks, I’ll make a cool $877 million.”

Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged i kondenserad finanskrisparodi hos McSweeneys. Lite småkul om man kan bortse från det faktum att Rand illustrerar produktiv förmåga på alla olika områden, från kultur till gruvdrift, och att hon redan i originalet illustrerar hur skurkar inom samma branscher försöker berika sig genom bedrägliga och statsunderstödda spekulationsbubblor, för att sedan springa till staten och kräva stabilitetsplaner. I exempelvis slutscenerna från James Taggarts bröllop hittar man rentav en mer underhållande illustration av det här med finanskriser.

Samma sajt parodierar bland annat Nick Hornby och Slavoj Zizek.