America, Ayn Rand once declared, “is culturally bankrupt”—it “is a country without voice or defense—a country sold out and abandoned by her intellectual bodyguards.” This talk shows how and why Atlas Shrugged provided a philosophically mute America with a new philosophical voice in order to “sanction and complete the political achievement of the American Revolution.” Thompson argues that Atlas Shrugged gives America the proper philosophic foundation that it never had but has always deserved.

Warning: This talk contains plot spoilers for the novel Atlas Shrugged.