Let me open by saying my reading list has recently expanded (though it always is, but never, perhaps, by quite so much at once.) I have not read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, yet. Perhaps this entry is premature, but I feel the need to speak anyway.
Is it possible to be steampunk before steampunk existed? Well, of course. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne certainly were. But what about Ayn Rand? If the method of steampunk is industry and innovation (with a large amount of "what if?") wrapped in a dystopian 19th/very early 20th century, then yes. When I went to see Atlas Shrugged in the theatre, I was impressed. Very impressed. Apparently it failed to make even a quarter of its budget in ticket sales, and the critics hated it, but I absolutely loved it. If it makes DVD, I highly recommend it. Here is the trailer if you're unfamiliar:
Really, the fine point of this article is the overall flavor of steampunk: socio-political tension during the industrial revolution/era. The science fiction is wonderful, but it is a vehicle to tell a story, not the story itself. In Rand's case it is individualism and capitalism (which is a term created to deride the free market thinking of the Austrian school of economics.) I thought I might briefly touch upon the idea.
I make no secret of the fact that I am very strongly individualist and support the free market.
Individualism is simply the philosophical tenet of personal liberty and worth. Each person experiences life unto himself, through his own lens, and to try to box that in, and control and direct it is unnatural. People must be free to think, believe, feel, and express as they desire. In the United States, we, ideally, manage by exception, allowing people to just live, and only punishing those who can't let others "just live". Unfortunately, that is just an ideal now. The U.S. has become a dystopia. Much of the civilized world is, really, but I am here, and so I refer to my country. This is the time, and the place to LIVE steampunk! We have a system to fight, and technology to support us (though steam is no longer the source of power, we can certainly create, innovate, and use meager means to glorious ends!) In the realm of the free market, there is a strong battle going on, because politics and economics are not mutually exclusive. The market truly directs the country, and those who direct the market eventually gain enough ground to direct us! No, we must fight to set the market free, and in doing so, we may set ourselves free. The ultimate, yet hardest to attain, school of thought on economics is the Austrian school. Dating back to St. Thomas Aquinas, and following through Ludwig Von Mises and his pupil F.A. Hayek, and on to today, it is the single most free economic philosophy, with the most prosperity on its record, and the greatest amount of opposition by the powerful, wealthy aristocracy.
Folks, we have an opportunity here, not just to cosplay, but to live the life. It's time to be industrious once again. It is time to fight for our lives, and our liberty. I say, full steam ahead! Start by changing yourself, and let the world follow. Good Journey.
(For more reading on the Austrian School of Economics, Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. has complied a list of essential reading, all of which has entered my reading list.)
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