Atlas shrugs, Atlas starves. The End. The most fatal flaw in Ayn Rand's book.

[stevenleser]

58. In some ways I agree but in some I disagree. They key is your term "reasonably equipped"

I lived in Colorado for almost three years. There IS an overabundance of fish and wildlife. Still, what does reasonably equipped mean if permanently cut off from the rest of the world. The Indians (american aborigines) could survive because their culture taught things like manufacture of bow and arrows, spears, etc., and hunting methods were constantly taught and shared.

How well would CEOs and other capitalist industrialists survive? They could have brought some guns and ammo with them, but that all runs out. When it ran out, what would they use to capture and kill the animals. Knives? Improvised spears? Unless you are an expert hunter, trying to kill your average ungulate with a knife or spear is a daunting task. The guides on my recent trip to Africa made it clear that some of these non-carnivorous animals are quite dangerous and kill more people than the predators. A weaponless adult male human is no match for an adult male deer and I am not sure how much advantage a knife or spear gives someone who doesn't have a fair amount of skill.

Even fishing tackle has a surprisingly short lifespan if heavily used. Do you think these guys could have manufactured their own?

As far as gardening, where would they get the seed? Where would they get the tools to cultivate? Any amount of a harvest that would make a difference would require tools.

It's by no means impossible that they could have survived, but it is also by no means a fait accompli.