Atlas Shrugged [84]
"But, Mr. Eubank," asked the young girl in the white dress, "what if more than ten thousand people want to buy a certain book?"
"Ten thousand readers is enough for any book."
"That's not what I mean. I mean, what if they want it?"
"That is irrelevant."
"But if a book has a good story which-"
"Plot is a primitive vulgarity in literature," said Balph Eubank contemptuously.
Dr. Pritchett, on his way across the room to the bar, stopped to say, "Quite so. Just as logic is a primitive vulgarity in philosophy."
"Just as melody is a primitive vulgarity in music," said Mort Liddy.
"What's all this noise?" asked Lillian Rearden, glittering to a stop beside them.
"Lillian, my angel," Balph Eubank drawled, "did I tell you that I'm dedicating my new novel to you?"
"Why. thank you, darling."
"What is the name of your new novel?" asked the wealthy woman.
"The Heart Is a Milkman."
"What is it about?"
"Frustration."
"But, Mr. Eubank," asked the young girl in the white dress, blushing desperately, "if everything is frustration, what is there to live for?"
"Brother-love," said Balph Eubank grimly.
Bertram Scudder stood slouched against the bar. His long, thin face looked as if it had shrunk inward, with the exception of his mouth and eyeballs, which were left to protrude as three soft globes. He was the editor of a magazine called The Future and he had written an article on Hank Rearden, entitled "The Octopus."
Bertram Scudder picked up his empty glass and shoved it silently toward the bartender, to be refilled. He took a gulp from his fresh drink, noticed the empty glass in front of Philip Rearden, who stood beside him, and jerked his thumb in a silent command to the bartender. He ignored the empty glass in front of Betty Pope, who stood at Philip's other side.
"Look, bud," said Bertram Scudder, his eyeballs focused approximately in the direction of Philip, "whether you like it or not, the Equalization of Opportunity Bill represents a great step forward."
"What made you think that I did not like it, Mr. Scudder?" Philip asked humbly.
"Well, it's going to pinch, isn't it? The long arm of society is going to trim a little off the hors d'oeuvres bill around here." He waved his hand at the bar.
"Why do you assume that I object to that?"
"You don't?" Bertram Scudder asked without curiosity.
"I don't!" said Philip hotly. "I have always placed the public good above any personal consideration. I have contributed my time and money to Friends of Global Progress in their crusade for the Equalization of Opportunity Bill. I think it is perfectly unfair that one man should get all the breaks and leave none to others."
Bertram Scudder considered him speculatively, but without particular interest. "Well, that's quite unusually nice of you," he said.
"Some people do take moral issues seriously, Mr. Scudder," said Philip, with a gentle stress of pride in his voice.
"What's he talking about, Philip?" asked Betty Pope. "We don't know anybody who owns more than one business, do we?"
"Oh, pipe down!" said Bertram Scudder, his voice bored.
"I don't see why there's so much fuss about that Equalization of Opportunity Bill," said Betty Pope aggressively, in the tone of an expert on economics. "I don't see why businessmen object to it. It's to their own advantage. If everybody else is poor, they won't have any market for their goods. But if they stop being selfish and share the goods they've hoarded-they'll have a chance to work hard and produce some more."
"I do not see why industrialists should be considered at all," said Scudder. "When the masses are destitute and yet there are goods available, it's idiotic to expect people to be stopped by some scrap of paper called a property deed. Property rights are a superstition. One holds property only by the courtesy of those who do not seize it. The people can seize it at any moment. If they can, why shouldn't they?"
"They should," said Claude Slagenhop. "They need it. Need is the only consideration. If people are in need, we've got to seize