Are they available in pdf format?

I just googled Atlas Shrugged PDF and found something called "filecrop". I don't know the site but it looks like there is a PDF file that can be down loaded

Thank you, I will look into this when I am near a free WiFi, rocket sticks sucketh..

The book has a good point but an incredibly tedious way of making it. Every Canadian will be able to see quite a few parallels to our own politics and especially anyone who has served time in a corporate atmosphere. Sucks the soul right out of the best of us.
I was determined to check out of the system long before I read it.

I think everybody should read Atlas Shrugged....I read while in my 20's (a while ago), again in my 30's, and it always stuck with me.

There will be a serious degrading of the international finacial markets. Most G-20 nations are beyond the point of no return with their national debts. Those debts are owned to private banks and when the private banks want their money they install Technocrats to manage the country and ensure the banks get paid. Oh, the people may incur some austerity but that's OK as long as they nation has a good credit rating.

If you think I'm kidding go find out who voted for the New Greek (Papademos, it should be Papthathantos and PM and the New Italian PM Dragi) In order to make these changes in a nation you would need a lessened amount of personal freedoms, heavy surveillance grid and a militarized police force. Anyone paying attention?

There is no way to predict the timings but I think our nations need to be at war first. This allows our governments a shorter trip to a more martial law type state. So, while I won't give a timing I would say that is a step. I don't want to speculate on the US Election but don't discount an October surprise.

One other good thing about a war is how it can impact the value of the dollar. The USD is the world reserve currency. Oil is traded in USD. Saddam used to trade oil in euros and Ghaddafi wanted to start trading oil for gold dinars. Iran is trading for anything BUT USD. See a pattern? If investors lose faith in the USD, which is its only value fiat=faith of a nation to pay, then a war in Iran will toss oil prices through the roof. Suddenly more people will want ISD to buy the same amount of oil as before. It will stop the slide. True lots of people will die and millions will endure extreme hardship but the Investors will be happy.

Is Atlas shrugging? I think he's gone for a bathroom break.

I loved the last line about the bathroom break.

Yes i have read Atlas shrugged .It is a brilliant book and I think that there are parallels in our present situation.As for the present debt load of the advanced western nations I think that it has a least as much to do with insataible government unions as any other factor especially thier pensions which are sucking the life right out of us.(read pension ponzi for the full eye popping details. There are simply to many powerful special interst groups guiding public policy to serve their own ends to the detrement of the country as a whole. Here are some more interesting books that other preppers might like"A step Farther out by Jerry Pournelle" This book was written 30 plus Years ago and makes a convincing arguement that mankind only has about 100 years to get established in space before resource depletion will make it impossible to do so.Collapse by Jared Diomand this book talks about what happened to cause the downfall of several ancient cultures and there parallels to our presnt situation except it,s global now.P.S. Cannibalism seems to be a depressingly common outcome.I myself am more worried in the future about food and energy security.It is tough for somebody with enough money to take the plunge and bugout(purchase land etc.) so to speak because people always have the hope that things will improve or that they can sit tight and wait it out.
Here are some more interesting books Lucifers Hammer , The Gunslinger and a trilogy by David Drake the name of which eludes me at present but is an intersting acount of postapocalyptic life in the american northwest

pension ponzi??? dont get me started...ive tried to opt out of the OMERS pension scheme, but no one will allow it....ive personally made contributions of $39,500 over the period of 8 years, to be told its only worth $41,000.....and at the end of last year they up our contributions....i'm paying for people who have retired already, the very definition of a ponzi scheme...and its not the stock markets because a hefty amount of OMERS holdings are in real estate...the CFO just paid himself a nice little $3.5 million bonus though...