“He didn't invent iron ore and blast furnaces, did he?”
“Rearden. He didn't invent smelting and chemistry and air
compression. He couldn't have invented his Metal but for
thousands and thousands of other people. His Metal! Why does he
think it's his? Why does he think it's his invention? Everybody
uses the work of everybody else. Nobody ever invents anything.”
She said, puzzled, “But the iron ore and all those other things
were there all the time. Why didn't anybody else make that
Metal, but Mr. Rearden did?” Civil disobedience may be
justifiable, in some cases, when and if an individual disobeys a
law in order to bring an issue to court, as a test case. Such an
action involves respect for legality and a protest directed only
at a particular law which the individual seeks an opportunity to
prove to be unjust. The same is true of a group of individuals
when and if the risks involved are their own. But there is no
justification, in a civilized society, for the kind of mass
civil disobedience that involves the v