Bert puts some socio-economic theory into practice when he hands Don an unexpected bonus. Befuddled and slightly alarmed, Don begins to stammer in lieu of gratitude Bert explains that he gave Don an extra $2,500 because of Ayn Rand. He explains:

‘When you hit 40, you realize you’ve met or seen every kind of person there is. And I know what kind you are, because I believe we are alike. By that I mean you are a productive and reasonable man and in the end completely self -interested. It’s strength. We are different. Unsentimental about all the people who depend on our hard work.’

Bert encourages Don to take two bucks out of his mondo bonus and pick up a copy of Rand’s 1957 best selling novel Atlas Shrugged. For the uninitiated, the primary lesson of Atlas is the individual must be put first, else a society will collapse.

In Rand’s dyspeptic future, parasitic autocrats and businessmen are able to horde a nation’s wealth by collectivizing land and industry. In protest to the nation-wide swindle, the country’s best innovators go on a ‘strike of the mind’ , refusing to contribute to the economy. Society then quickly disintegrates with oil fields set ablaze and trains derailed by striking industrialists.

Rand’s intention was to champion the ethos of unfettered ‘rational self interest’:

‘I work for nothing but my own profit—which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it’

This was the mantra of the mind mindstrikers, who’s creativity, according to Rand, was more important to society than physical labor if their creativity was not rewarded our progress would decay.

So what else would the grease the Sterling Cooper gears of a big fat check for the Head of Creative?!

3:50am | 25 notes | mad men season 3 | ayn rand | mad men bookshelf