Stuff to Read

The death toll from the southern tornadoes is approaching 300.

I thought of Ayn Rand when I read “Why Is Enough Never Enough?” by William D. Cohan. Cohan asks why highly successful business leaders with loads of money are willing to take crazy chances to make more money. For example,

… why would David Sokol, a multi-millionaire and one of the men on the short list to succeed Warren Buffett, bother using the knowledge he had that Buffett was interested in buying Lubrizol, a large chemicals company, to make an extra $3 million that surely would have no effect on his lifestyle? (The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating Sokol’s trading in Lubrizol but no charges have been filed against him; he has resigned from Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s company.)

Why can’t people who seem to have so much simply be satisfied with what they have, without feeling the need to risk breaking the law to get even more?

He’s not talking about Bernie Madoff and similar sorts who are pure flim-flam artists. He’s talking about people who make it to the top legitimately and then piss it away. Cohan provides some answers — it’s more about being captain of the universe than making more money — but let’s not forget these are the people Ayn Rand believed ought to be captains of the universe because they are better.

Speaking of which, I understand Part I of Atlas Shrugged: The Movie was so bad, the filmmaker has decided to drop plans for making Parts II and III.

Also: “Shiloh Baptist Church receives threats after comments from Sean Hannity

Rep. Allen West Continues To Purge His Town Hall Meetings Of Any Dissenters