Christianity's view is that man survives by faith in God — that strong, pure faith can move mountains. But Ayn Rand argues that all the faith in the world is inadequate to move one grain of sand one millimeter. If human beings seek to move mountains in order to construct interstate highway systems or transcontinental railroads, they can do so only by means of dynamite, technology, and science. Faith in God cannot enable Dagny and Rearden (or their real-life equivalents) to build railroad lines, invent metals, or design new bridges. Only rigorous thought can reach such accomplishments. The mind — not faith in the supernatural — grows food and cures diseases. Likewise, only societies that are scientifically, technologically, and industrially advanced — such as the modern United States — have high living standards. Places and eras dominated by faith, such as Europe during the Middle and Dark Ages, are backward and destitute. When the mind is absent — whether on strike, as in the novel, or subordinated to faith, as in Medieval Europe — the result is regression into a cultural dark age.
Great creative minds such as Galt's, by definition, think new thoughts and discover new knowledge. They neither conform to social belief nor obey a tyrant's command. They follow their own vision and pursue their own truth. In making intellectual breakthroughs, people like John Galt lead mankind's progress. This idea, too, is part of Ayn Rand's theme in Atlas Shrugged: The mind must be free. Galt's strike is a declaration of independence for the intellectual. The strike shows that the mind can't and won't function under compulsion. Freedom is required for Rearden to create his metal, for Galt to invent his motor, or for any innovator to discover new truths. The creative mind looks only at the facts, whether of metallurgy, energy conversion, or another field. It does not bow to the whims of a dictator. If people like Floyd Ferris or Wesley Mouch can, by decree, stifle or redirect the research being done by a Galt or a Rearden, they've placed a gun between the great mind and the facts that it studies. This explains why the freest countries are the most advanced, and why the brutal dictatorships that proliferate across the globe wallow in backwardness and abysmal poverty. Galt's strike recognizes that the first right of human beings is the freedom to think and act independently. The result of this freedom is the unshackling of the human mind and a dramatic rise in living standards.
