Both Uses of
wield
in
Atlas Shrugged
- Nobody is permitted to have gold in Europe, except the whip-wielding friends of humanity, who claim that they spend it for the welfare of their victims.†
Chpt 2.7 *
- …that initiates the employment of force against men who had forced no one, the employment of armed compulsion against disarmed victims, is a nightmare infernal machine designed to annihilate morality: such a government reverses its only moral purpose and switches from the role of protector to the role of man's deadliest enemy, from the role of policeman to the role of a criminal vested with the right to the wielding of violence against victims deprived of the right of self-defense.†
Chpt 3.7
Definition:
-
(wield) to have or useThe exact meaning of wield can depend upon its context. For example:
- "to wield an ax" -- to have it in hand
- "to wield power or influence" -- to have or exercise power or influence