When Atlas Shrugged


Some say the world will end in fire

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

—Robert Frost, Fire and Ice

According to Greek mythology there was, a long time ago, a great battle between the Olympians and the Titans, the descendants of Uranus and Gaea. Prior to this battle, the Titans, led by their youngest sibling Cronus, deposed Uranus and became rulers of the Universe.

Eventually, however, in a battle known as Titanomachy, they were overthrown by the Olympians and were punished for their insurrection. As retribution for their crimes, most of the Titans, except for Prometheus, were condemned to Tartarus, the lowest region of Hades. The two leaders of the coup were handed different sentences. Cronus ruled the Isle of the Blessed, and Atlas was made to hold up the sky.

But what would happen if he failed in his charge?

 

THE SKY IS FALLING!

One day, many years later, Chicken Licken was walking through the woods and plink! An acorn fell from a tall oak tree onto her head. "Oh my goodness!" said Chicken Licken. "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"1

It looks like Atlas had an itch.

Thankfully, the story of Chicken Licken is only a fairy tale, and even if an acorn did fall the damage would be negligible. But while things turned out to be just fine for Chicken Licken, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, Doggy Loggy, Horsey Lorsey, Turkey Lurkey, and Foxy Loxy, the dinosaurs weren’t so lucky. For them, the falling sky meant the end of an era.

 

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
(AND I FEEL FINE)

That’s great it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes and airplanes… Lenny Bruce is not afraid. I am a hurricane, listen to yourself churn… Oh, sorry, I got carried away there.

What I meant to say was that, as a result of one of Atlas’s more famous itches, 65 million years ago, those great lizards that dominated the earth were wiped out by the impact of an asteroid in the Yucatán Peninsula. Talk about your bad days. One minute you’re thundering across the land, frightening

The copyright of the article When Atlas Shrugged in Science Fiction & Society is owned by Christopher B. Jones. Permission to republish When Atlas Shrugged in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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