This chapter deepens Ayn Rand’s portrayal of socialism as parasitical. Rearden, Dagny, and the great Colorado industrialists have, against terrible difficulties, created enormously productive enterprises. They create steel, oil, transportation, and superb innovations. The goods and services they provide make it possible to build and heat homes, construct and fuel automobiles, and participate in countless other productive activities. As a result, they create jobs for thousands of employees. In a capitalist system, the great Colorado industrialists would be free to sell their products to customers and make the fortunes that they’ve earned. But under socialism, they’re forced to carry less competent people along with them. The unions of railroad workers clamor for shorter trains that run at lower speeds, and the government makes these demands law. This means that Taggart Transcontinental must run more trains and hire more men to do the same amount of work. Therefore, in return for her superb work, Dagny is compelled to run an inefficient, costly line that doesn’t generate the profit it could. The union membership is rewarded while Dagny, the line’s creator, is penalized.
Unfortunately, Rearden’s situation is even worse. The government and many businessmen tried to block Rearden from putting Rearden Metal on the market. They threatened him, smeared the reputation of his metal, and robbed him of his ore mines. No one but Dagny had the wisdom and courage to buy his new product. But now that Dagny and Rearden have demonstrated the metal’s worth, every one of his enemies demands the metal, and the government forces Rearden to fulfill their demands. Even worse, Rearden’s competitors, recognizing the huge demand for the metal, convince the government to limit Rearden’s output. Therefore, Rearden must sell to every person or business that wants his product while simultaneously restricting his output. The laws pull Rearden in opposite directions. He is tortured for the enormity of his achievement while men like Boyle, Larkin, and James Taggart benefit. With this scenario, Ayn Rand makes a compelling condemnation of socialism. In forcing the great creators to support those who cannot match their achievements, the socialist government penalizes a man for his ingenuity and hard work and rewards other men for their lack of accomplishment.
Dagny’s relentless quest for the motor’s inventor further shows the virtues of freedom. In a capitalist system, Dagny could profit from her recognition of the motor’s worth. She would be free to hire the inventor and use his motor to revolutionize the transportation industry. In time, customers would recognize the superiority of the new motor, just as they recognized the great merit of Rearden Metal. Taggart Transcontinental’s improved transportation would earn the company—and Dagny—a fortune. But under socialism, Rand argues, the goal is to serve the needy and the unproductive, not to provide justice to the men and women of achievement. Like Rearden and Dagny, the motor’s inventor would be enslaved to serve a horde of parasites under a socialist government. Rand’s message is that capitalism is the system of justice, because it rewards the good. Socialism, on the other hand, is a system of injustice, because it penalizes the good and rewards unproductive moochers.
This chapter’s title refers to the rebelliousness of Ellis Wyatt’s independent spirit. Wyatt will not be shackled. Rather than permit his achievement to be looted in order to support the parasites, he destroys it. Wyatt is both a symbol and a warning: He is a symbol of the great creative and free spirit that tyranny can’t subjugate and a warning to those who try to enslave him. “Don’t tread on me” was a saying popular at the time of the American Revolution, and Wyatt represents that same spirit of freedom. He won’t serve people who try to loot his property. In defying them, he delivers a severe blow to their scheme to redistribute wealth.
