My dear Wendy-
As I place my fingers on these keys to write you this letter, I can feel myself reaching across the world to talk to you. As I touch the keys, I feel as though I hold in my hands the reins of the teams of mighty horses that carried news across the great frontiers of our nation. I feel in my limbs the power of the first man who broke the untamed fury of a stallion and bent that beast to his masterful will. I feel that the keys that bring my message to you represent the determination of those men who worked to cross uncharted distances to propel mankind into the future.
Your name came up at lunch last week. Thankfully that tiresome Russian Kira had to cancel. Always boasting about how she was written to be the most like Mrs. Rand of all of us. So, it was just Dagny Taggart and myself. I was talking about the problems facing the world today, and what your group was trying to accomplish. As usual, Dagny’s response was “Who is John Galt?” which is her answer for everything these days. I was reminded why I don’t much like the company of my fellow women. It was right around that time that our lunch arrived, I had to immediately consume every bit of my salade nicoise, because I felt that it was too beautiful to exist in a world as flawed as ours.
I commend you for trying to make the world a better place, but I think you’re going about it in the wrong way. I think that your group is too egalitarian, and perhaps, too female. Great change is only accomplished when a strong individual imposes his will and clarity of vision on the world. I think you need a powerful man to take charge of your organization. I find it so enlightening to have a man force his will onto me. It truly can open my eyes.
Please let me know if you require any assistance from me in locating such a man.
Objectively yours,
Dominique Francon
New York City
Dear Dominique –
Ah, Dominique Francon of The Fountainhead. Long have I wondered about you and the workings of your mind, which, I have to say, are about as opposite to my own as it is possible to be.
Dominique, I hope you don’t mind my saying that I hugely admire your energy, and wonder how in hell it got diverted to this kind of “I worship Mangod and all his works” nonsense. I mean, wake up and smell the coffee, girlfriend. Surely you’re noticed where that Fountainhead propaganda, backing a well-financed deconstruction of the New Deal, has landed us? These days, a New Depression isn’t looking much like the Brave New World your Ayn Rand visualized. Not exactly.
Come join us, Dominique. Stop identifying with your oppressor. You’ve got power enough of your own; you don’t need anyone else’s to hang onto.
But if after consideration, you still are looking for another powerful man to show you the way — well, I don’t think Alan Greenspan is doing much these days. You might try him.
Sincerely yours and hoping you come to your senses soon,
Ask Wendy
(Want advice? Got something to share? Wendy Darling is back from her Paris holiday and ready to take on the world. Email her at askwendy@exterminatingangel.com….or have a look at the Fictional Characters for Real Life Social Change Minutes of their October meeting…)