On Political Pull

Today I'll get into a subject that's a bit slippery.  One fundamental concept put forth by Ayn Rand in her ultimate novel Atlas Shrugged was the idea of Political Pull.  It is here that a government operating under the Rule of Law is replaced by a regime that operates through the exchange of favors for the beneficial exercise of power.  The end result is a tyranny that denies real rights, breaks real laws, and benefits a ruling class.  Rand called this ruling class The Aristocracy Of Pull.  For the purposes of writing this blog I've labelled this group the Nomenklatura after the name applied to the ruling class of the Soviet Union.  In Atlas Shrugged we're shown the operations of the Nomenklatura and the adverse impact they have on the characters and the people in general.  The Nomenklatura renounces reason, rejects rights, and inflicts no end of damage in their pursuit of benefits at the expense of the victims.  In relations between men the Nomenklatura rejects rational consent in favor of brute force.