IBTZ
Posted on 04/16/2011 11:31:56 PM PDT by The Watcher
Freepers... I am the son of a son of immigrants, a working class stiff, who came from a poor family. I've never known wealth and am unlikely to. However, I see the endless refrain to attack freedom to be in your own business, to do as you see fit, and to direct your own fate and your own energies very much in danger.
As one person with many talents, and capabilities I know that are greater than the sum of just hours and hands, it seems to me at days, that it really is time to "go galt", and just withdraw. And on other days, it seems to me that the Mouch types haven't won yet and the future is not set... The country CAN be turned back.
Galt wasn't a protester. He didn't arrange rallies and make big speeches, he did the one thing that could be done, sans violence, to defeat the people who controlled both the laws and the media.
It would be fantastically easier, if we could convince 500 titans of industry to "go galt' with their personal wealth and just let the political left collapse under its own weight of incompetence and impossible to fulfill promises.
What is clear, is that the first step, known as TEA Party, has happened. That is, a mass outpouring of indignation at the stupidity of the looting class and the punishement of success.
In Rand's novel, the public fails to understand, and instead, simply follows like sheep. Perhaps Rand never grasped what American means, and that it means that even if it's a minority, Americans as a whole simply do not fall for the socialists, the redistributionists, the elitists, etc.
It seems to me that FR has become the news and daily exchange for links of data and intel, a smallish coordinator of activism, but it is NOT a platform for serious debate.
Debate what? About "going galt". No, I don't mean to withdraw from society and go on strike, though I suppose somewhere in the future that might actually be an option. Rather, a somewhat more disciplined discussion to do what Galt saw as needing to be done. To unite the people who matter into action to achieve the ends that were required to save the nation from destruction. Rand's story is about starving the regime into collapse. But the whole purpose is not about exacting revenge or collapsing nations... It's about removing from the controls of power, people who have become professional looters of others for political power, and who hold places of influence, who have spread the poison of leftist dogma as the only truth... Poisoning the American soul with dependency and worse.
Would you be interested in a forum to have said debate? And by debate, I don't mean political diatribes, but instead, deadly serious discussion about, and coordination of, durable societal change, from the ground up.
I'll fund the startup of such a forum, but I lack the means to continue it and grow it to national stature or size, it would eventually require support, mostly in commitment and time, and a tireless recruitment effort, to make the movement large enough to do what Galt's team did... change a nation.
I have little illusion that anything I start can become that in and of itself. But one little light can light another, and another, and another.
What say you? Would you be in?
Sad to say... of the few who chose to respond, only one put thought into reading and responding. And admirably, too. The FR I knew of the long past, is apparently, the long past, and not many serious people any longer, just the casual readers and non-engaged...
I’d say this is probably my last post for FR, which is, for me, a very sad thing to say, since the early days of this site had a very large impact on my life and my thinking, because of people who were intellectually engaged, and could do more than the most cursory reading of something slightly cryptic, yet, obvious in intent.
Iv’e been here since long before you needed a login, sometimes with a hiatus of a few months, while matters of family or business took my attention away. It never occurred to me that the demographics had changed so much. Perhaps it was the fire and profundity of those who were so engaged that eventually put them in conflict with the rest and so, dwindled and drifted away.
For the rest of you who could not be bothered to read and comprehend a few lines of english and grasp the message behind it, you are not the people who will change anything but your own vote. You neither care, nor engage your mind enough to see past the buzzwords you’ve chosen to respond to. You are not the material of those who will save a nation in ruin, you’re just snipers from the peanut gallery. I am stunned at your failure to comprehend... and even amused by the poor schmuck who insisted I didn’t know how to write or think coherently. The early days of FR would have had me peppered with relevant questions, even hard ones, that displayed a keen and active mind.
Perhaps that’s why I used to read for the commentary... and now I scan the postings to find info and ignore most of the commentary.
JimRob, you can’t sit on your laurels any longer, your once great group has seriously decayed. I suggest some introspection and serious analysis to see why. I wish you well in your endeavors, your efforts from the past no doubt planted some of the seeds for the TEA Party to rise. May God Bless.
Ah yes, the very arrogance that is one of the biggest flaws of your philosophy. You’re uniquely blessed with the truth, and for everyone else it is, as has been noted elsewhere, “off to the gas chamber.”
Truly instituting change from the ground up involves first seizing and securing the Public school system...like the extreme left did back in the 70s, with a second more radical wave hitting in the 90s. By doing this, they ensured that they had a factory of willing atheists and socialists at their beck and call.
Unless you can take over or destroy the Department of Education, ground up change is an illusion.
Oh, and in one sense, I’ve already done this, in chosing the lower paying of two jobs (that offered more time off) knowing that every dollar of extra income the second job provided would be taxed at the maximum tax rate.
Watcher,
I just got through writing a long letter to you, to be sent to you privately by Freep mail. Don’t leave just yet! Please look for it.
PastorBooks
The point, I believe, is not that folks need to “go Galt” but that it is human nature to do so. Folks won’t work as hard when their perception is that they will not enjoy the fruits of their labor. Simple, really.
Watcher,
I just sent you the letter I was writing.
I think I know what you were trying to say, and it’s not about going Galt. It is about a deeper level of discussion and learning, something that current forum software does not enable very well.
I am working on a new software project that you might be interested in. Read the Freepmail I just sent you and contact me when you can.
Thanks!
You're not thinking of starting some lame blog I hope?
We have enough lame blogs cluttering up the place already.
If Rand was mistaken, how do you explain us being where we are today? You can know the truth and still be a sheep and we seem to fit the description - we mock the PC society, yet we still abide by PC as a sign of "civility". That's the same as being taken in by it all and even sadder and more pitiful for our knowledge of the truth...
Please don’t be discouraged. Yes, I too am shocked by the arrogance and meaness of some posters. These personal ugly slams I see more and more of on FR lead me to think that there are many out there who are not only angry and unhappy, but bitter also.
I am going Galt in my own small way. I work and earn a supplemental income for my family only to see half of it go to various governments entities. I’m tired of feeding the beast and then be told I’m greedy and not paying my “fair share.” What’s the point? I’d rather spend my time and energy enjoying my family and working hard to support them in other ways. I want to make sure they have a future - and when I leave my job next month, I’ll have time for once to help those out there who are trying to make a difference.
Hang in there, Watcher.
“Entitlements, and self-serving expectations need to be replaced with hard work, pride, and the simple desire to save the wonderful Country for our children if not for ourselves. Perhaps we’re saying the same thing differently.”
At a county convention yesterday with Newt speaking. He seems to think the country can be turned around by asking welfare junkies if they would rather have a paycheck or a foodstamp. I think 48% of the country would answer foodstamp. They are simply not interested in having to actually work for food.
Already have. I do everything I can to starve the beast. Ignore taxes, permits, fines, fees. Pay and work cash. Raise resentment and educated amongst the workers.
I understand your desire to see the republic restored, but your solution, to replace the corrupted leadership, or “professional looters” as you referred to them requires that we have uncorrupted individuals to replace them with.
Sadly this is not the case, as we see time and time again at every election cycle. We can replace the whole lot of Senators and Congresscritters only to have to repeat the process because the machine itself is corrupt.
The only way we can recover is if we have people of high moral principles who are determined to do what is right by their countrymen, and to hell with special interests. Do we have any likely candidates? Presently I can name only a handful currently in office, and it will take an outstanding majority if true restoration is to be achieved.
The only solution I foresee is social unrest and civil war. A form of cleansing. The reason for this is that a people, its organizations and institutions will no longer be able lie to themselves or others. Death and the fear of it has a way of bringing the truth out.
It is not cool to recruit on FR for other forums. That is ZOT-worthy.
FR dislikes “vanity” posts; only copies/links of other articles is welcome.
IBTZ
And and OPUS to boot!
Ooooooh!
IBTZ!
Thanks!
All part of the job, Ma’am.
“Here’s your problem: Those “500 titans of industry” all vote Democrat and give to liberal candidates and causes. All so as to destroy small competitors by using the power of the state to given themselves de facto monopoly or oligopoly control. It is as if, in an absurd backwards way, Marx is right: the wealthy ruling class fattens itself on the back of the producers, but in reality they do so by using Marxist means. The producers, in this case, are the true capitalists, entrepreneurs and small-to-medium sized business owners who see their ideas destroyed and their wealth appropriated for bailouts by those 500 titans of industry.”
Yeah. Apparently, the biggest corporations collude with the government to get laws passed that favor them over their smaller competitors. Stuff like that.
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