The Railroad Unification Plan is a desperate ploy that James Taggart and the socialist politicians brokered in an attempt to save Taggart Transcontinental from its own irrational policies. The plan’s purpose is to prevent Taggart’s bankruptcy by means of feeding off other weaker competitors. For example, because its track was severed by the Colorado tunnel disaster, Taggart Transcontinental uses the transcontinental line of the Atlantic Southern railroad without charge. The competitor pays for the track’s upkeep without help from Taggart. Under the Railroad Unification Plan, railroads are paid according to how many miles of track they own rather than how much service they provide. Taggart Transcontinental owns by far the most miles of track (although much of it now sits unused), so Jim’s plan ensures that his company gets most of the pooled railroad income. Taggart Transcontinental gets the money while the smaller rail lines go bankrupt. Cuffy Meigs, the director of the plan, is a blatant thief who uses his authority to provide train service to his friends in exchange for a share of their profit.
Dagny refuses to reassure the public about the state of the rail industry because she understands the disastrous long-term consequences of the plan. After the smaller rail lines go bankrupt, nothing can save the larger companies from a similar fate. The looters’ policies have strangled industrial production, so the railroads are transporting a mere trickle of freight. The future of the railroad industry is grim, and Dagny wants the public to know the truth. Her broadcast enables her to tell the country the facts regarding the looters’ socialist policies.
The broadcast also proves Dagny’s pride for her relationship with Rearden and her utter rejection of the mind-body dichotomy. Realizing that their attraction was based on their achievements—on a mutual reverence for the accomplishments of the human mind—Dagny regards Rearden’s desire for her as a badge of honor. She proclaims to the world that she has earned the right to sleep with Hank Rearden.
Robert Stadler’s acceptance of the horrific Project X is the final destruction of a once great mind. Stadler now openly embraces the rule of brute force. The purpose of the project is to rule by terror a populace that has every right to rebel against the destructive policies of the government. Stadler’s endorsement shows that this great mind, which once fought for the freedom of thought, now fights on behalf of a dictatorship.
