Idaho State Sen. Introduces Bill Requiring Students To Read ‘Atlas Shrugged’

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A Republican state senator in Idaho on Tuesday introduced legislation that would require every high school student in the Gem State to read Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged,” The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash. reported.

State Sen. John Goedde, who serves as chairman of the Idaho Senate’s Education Committee, gave a succinct and candid response when asked why he chose “Atlas Shrugged,” Rand’s magnum opus and a favorite among small government purists.

“That book made my son a Republican,” Goedde said to laughs. Goedde said he doesn’t plan to make a hard push for the proposal or hold any hearings on the bill. Rather, he said it was a symbolic gesture.

“It was a shot over their bow just to let them know that there’s another way to adopt high school graduation requirements,” Goedde said.

He said that the book still resonates with him roughly 30 years after he read it, noting that “it certainly gives one a sense of personal responsibility.”

 

(Photo credit: Plume)

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