The John Galt Effect

Human Events ^ | February 19, 2009 | Dr. Arthur Robinson

[AZLiberty]

A hidden effect of the November 4 elections and the national events that preceded them during this past year is perhaps best called the “John Galt Effect” in honor of Ayn Rand’s famous character in Atlas Shrugged.  It is occurring to a very significant extent.

Our technological civilization stands upon the shoulders of many generations of free Americans and the great accomplishments that they bequeathed to us. Among those Americans and their counterparts in other countries have been a small special group of people whose unusual genius, work ethic, and love for their specialties were especially outstanding. These men, by their examples, their creations, and their leadership of free enterprises, have led our civilization upward. One of the greatest privileges of my life has been to know a few such people.

Without this small group of people, the technological attainments of their generations would not have taken place. We know the names of a few of them, but there were many more—constituting perhaps one person in a thousand. Ayn Rand called these people the “men of the mind.” In Atlas Shrugged, under the leadership of John Galt, they withdrew their services. They would only work in freedom. They would not work under tyranny.
In reality, most men of the mind never withdraw. They love their work too much to stop and—most of them—love their fellow men too much to desert them. The forces of tyranny depend upon this. Without these people, even the small technological advances required by Marxist and Socialist societies would not occur. Yet, while the men of the mind do not fully withdraw, they have families and other loved ones for whom they are responsible and to whom they are more devoted than to the state.

As the pendulum of politics now swings toward tyranny in the United States and dangers to those whom they love increase, these men and women partially turn their talents more toward their personal responsibilities. Part of their thoughts, efforts, and ingenuity are lost to society—and this loss cannot be recovered by either negative or positive incentives.

Throughout our country today, the men of the mind (women, too) are watching the awful scene in Washington and its reflection in state and local capitals throughout the United States. They understand the consequences of the government oppression that has dogged their own footsteps for many years and that will grow much worse in the near future. So, they are taking actions to protect themselves and their families. We have no way to measure the societal effects of this distraction of the men of the mind. There are immediate effects upon our well being and long term effects from the things that they are no longer working full time to create.

What is the cost of the distraction of our real leaders—of the men of the mind—of the John Galts among us? I estimate that it is greater than the trillions of dollars being lost on government printing presses. Call this Y2009K—and this time it is very real.

Our existing power plants are still operating; our petrochemical plants are still producing; our military defense is still performing; our food supplies are still flowing; and the rest of the technological infrastructure upon which our lives depend is largely still in place. But the key people—not those we see but those we do not see because they are constantly engaged in real work—are seriously distracted and now partially engaged in personal survival.

Of one thing we can be certain. When the essentials of our civilization begin to seriously falter and this causes real harm, those who would be our masters and their fellow travelers in the media, academia, business, and politics will cast blame upon some of these men of the mind—and drag them before us for punishment. Our John Galts know this, too, and it is a further distraction for them.

Some of these people are leading great enterprises. Others are in the basements of our power plants and other heavy industries. Some are closeted away in universities quietly at work on the next generations of possible advances in science and engineering. They are easily recognized—by their genius and by the love of their work that permeates their whole beings.

One way to recognize them is that they constantly talk about their work to anyone who will listen.

Now they are distracted.

What are they talking about today?

---

Additional material from Science and Public Policy Institute:

Atlas Shrugged Resources:

•    Book Chapter Summaries:
    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/atlasshrugged/

•    An Audio Study of John Galt’s Speech:
    http://atlasshrugged.com/book/a-study-of-galts-speech.html

•    The Book and its Ideas:
    http://atlasshrugged.com/book/

[EBH]

Not tooting either, but on Nov. 5th I picked up the phone and shrugged off the market. Broker asked me why I was doing such a thing? I told him because 0bama won and they are going to take everything, including my 401K & IRA. He thought I was crazy...I’d like to send him a copy of Atlas Shrugged today.

[Chickensoup]

Sure seems like he wants to eliminate all charities, and have everyone totally dependant upon the Government for everything.

how else to cripple churches and other self help groups

[EBH]

Thought you might find this interesting reading. From the White Rose Society—NAZI Germany

All ideal forms of government are utopias. A state cannot be constructed on a purely theoretical basis; rather, it must grow and ripen in the way an individual human being matures. But we must not forget that at the starting point of every civilization the state was already there in rudimentary form. The family is as old as man himself, and out of this initial bond man, endowed with reason, created for himself a state founded on justice, whose highest law was the common good. The state should exist as a parallel to the divine order, and the highest of all utopias, *the civitas dei*, is the model which in the end it should approximate.

Here we will not pass judgment on the many possible forms of the state - democracy, constitutional monarchy, and so on. But one matter needs to be brought out clearly and unambiguously. Every individual human being has a claim to a useful and just state, a state which secures the freedom of the individual as well as the good of the whole. For, according to God’s will, man is intended to pursue his natural goal, his earthly happiness, in self-reliance and self-chosen activity, freely and independently within the community of life and work of the nation.

But our present “state” is the dictatorship of evil. “Oh, we’ve known that for a long time,” I hear you object, “and it isn’t necessary to bring that to our attention again.” But, I ask you, if you know that, why do you not bestir yourselves, why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your *moral duty* - to eliminate this system?

But if a man no longer can summon the strength to demand his right, then it is absolutely certain that he will perish. We would deserve to be dispersed through the earth like dust before the wind if we do not muster our powers at this late hour and finally find the courage which up to now we have lacked. Do not hide your cowardice behind a cloak of expediency, for with every new day that you hesitate, failing to oppose this offspring of Hell, your guilt, as in a parabolic curve, grows higher and higher.

Many, perhaps most, of the readers of these leaflets do not see clearly how they can practice an effective opposition. They do not see any avenues open to them. We want to try to show them that everyone is in a position to contribute to the overthrow of this system. It is not possible through solitary withdrawal, in the manner of embittered hermits, to prepare the ground for the overturn of this “government” or bring about the revolution at the earliest possible moment. No, it can be done only by the cooperation of many
convinced, energetic people - people who are agreed as to the means they must use to attain their goal.

We have no great number of choices as to these means. The only one available is *passive resistance*. The meaning and the goal of passive resistance is to topple National Socialism, and in this struggle we must not recoil from any course, any action, whatever its nature. At *all* points we must oppose National Socialism, wherever it is open to attack. We must soon bring this monster of a state to an end. A victory of fascist American in this war would have immeasurable, frightful consequences. The defeat of the Socialists must *unconditionally* be the first order of business. The greater necessity of this latter requirement will be discussed in one of our forthcoming leaflets.

And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present “state” in the most effective way, how he can strike it the most telling blows. Through passive resistance, without a doubt. We cannot provide each man with the blueprint for his acts, we can only suggest them in general terms, and he alone will find the way of achieving this end:

*Sabotage* at all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies, and organizations of the National Socialist Party. Obstruction of the smooth functioning of the war machine (a machine for war that goes on solely to shore up and perpetuate the National Socialist Party and its dictatorship).

*Sabotage* in all the areas of science and scholarship which further the continuation of the war - whether in universities, technical schools, laboratories, research institutions, or technical bureaus.

*Sabotage* in all cultural institutions which could potentially enhance the “prestige” of the fascists among the people.

*Sabotage* in all branches of the arts which have even the slightest dependence on National Socialism or render it service.

*Sabotage* in all publications, all newspapers, that are in the pay of the “government” and that defend its ideology and aid in disseminating the brown lie.

Do not give a penny to the public drives (even when they are conducted under the pretense of charity). For this is only a disguise. In reality the proceeds aid neither the Red Cross nor the needy. The government does not need this money; it is not financially interested in these money drives. After all, the presses run continuously to manufacture any desired amount of paper currency. But the populace must be kept constantly under tension, the pressure of the bit must not be allowed to slacken!

Do not contribute to the collections of metal, textiles and the like. Try to convince all your acquaintances, including those in the lower social classes, of the senselessness of continuing, of the hopelessness of this war; of our spiritual and economic enslavement at the hands of the National Socialists; of the destruction of all moral and religious values; and urge them to *passive resistance*!

Aristotle: *Politics*: “... and further, it is part [of the nature of tyranny] to strive to see to it that nothing is kept hidden of that which any subject says or does, but that everywhere he will be spied upon,... and further, to set man against man and friend against friend, and the common people against the privileged and the wealthy. Also it is part of these tyrannical measures, to keep the subjects poor, in order to pay the guards and the soldiers, and so that they will be occupied with earning their livelihood and will have neither leisure nor opportunity to engage in conspiratorial acts... Further, [to levy] such taxes on income as were imposed in Syracuse, for under Dionysius the citizens gladly paid out their whole fortunes in taxes within five years. Also, the tyrant is inclined constantly to foment wars”

Please duplicate and distribute!

[Boucheau]

I have layed off several employees and have limited my work day to no more than eight hours per day.

I have spent hours and hours with my accountant lately to plan for this cutback AND for our moving out of the state of California.

I wasn’t born to serve any other human’s agenda. I R.E.F.U.S.E. to work for ANYONE for free—let alone those who ARE ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST ME, MY FAMILY AND MY VALUES.

Forget about it.

They’d have to point a gun to my head—and they just might.

In the meantime, we’re outta the socialist utopia of failing California and I’m enjoying being with my kids and taking care of long-postponed activities.

Let the fools who voted for this power monger amid loads of evidence of his Marxist/Leninist/racist leanings go to work for him—you’ll find me in the pool.

I’m not losing sleep, or losing time at the end of my life, or losing time with my family to work for them—no way.

Go find another worker bee, lefty.

I’m here to enjoy this journey.

And I’m not above killing you if you should try to deny me that right.

Just so we understand each other.

[lady lawyer]

Good for you. I will also cut back my work time, if and when it becomes necessary to avoid high taxation. There are useful ways to spend your time that aren’t taxable.

[lady lawyer]

“Sure seems like he wants to eliminate all charities, and have everyone totally dependant upon the Government for everything.”

Marxists want to eliminate all mediating institutions that come between the individual and the state. That’s why they work at weakening the family, and now the church.

[lady lawyer]

PS. I hope you laid off the Obama voters first.

[LegendHasIt]

Unfortunately it appears that Jolie is out of the Atlas Shrugged business.

I was under the impression that she was still pretty much in control, but just yesterday on another forum, someone disabused me of that notion.
Jolie Out

They mention that for the lead actress, Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightly, Julia Roberts, and Charlize Theron want the part.

I dont know about Nightly's politics, but the other three are rabid anti-capitalists, and two of them are rabid anti-American as well. I think that Nightly is a major hottie, but being a Brit, she is probably pretty liberal, if not a lefty.

So none of them would be able to portray Dagny honestly.

[Boucheau]

How about listing companies that ARE doing the right thing?

Like Cessna and Fidelity.

I think Wells Fargo attempted to refuse the bailout but was coerced into taking the dough and thus giving the gov’t increased controls over the bank’s operations.

[Chewbacca]

I just shrugged this week by changing my exemptions on my W-2 form from 1 to 5.
I hope to help starve the Government of tax money so I can use and spend it on myself and hold off paying the Government until next April.

[Chewbacca]

(I’m with ya snow. Wife and I have earned near mid level six figure income for the past three years. I work 80 hours per week and am never home.

I am done. Told the company president two days ago that I will take half my regular base salary and back off to 45 to 50 hours a week. No more huge bonus. Told him maybe we can work out some other payback down the road, but I am not going to support this madness brought on by the communist in the White House. )

Ask to see if your employer will pay you each week a $50 gold coin. That way your take home pay will only be $2600 a year putting you below the poverty line so you won’t have to pay taxes.

[Boucheau]

I plead the fifth.

[A_Former_Democrat]

You’re absolutely right. There is such a prevalence “me first” “what’s yours is mine” and racist hatred attitudes that anarchy will soon follow.

[Red Boots]

THat was smart. I wish I’d done that.

[whodathunkit]

They’d have to point a gun to my head—and they just might.

The repeal of the thirteenth amendment would also be necessary to force you to work. With Obama as the first black president how ironic would that be???

U.S. Constitution: Thirteenth Amendment

Thirteenth Amendment - Slavery And Involuntary Servitude

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

[shezza]

Imagine, if you will, the day some state sends out IOU's in place of welfare checks...and expects local businesses to take them in good faith. It won't take much for the moochers to be incensed that their freebies aren't handed to them instantly, that they're owed their daily bread and satellite tv and by golly, they intend to take it.

If anybody finds Galt's Gulch, shoot me the mapquest link, 'kay?

[shezza]

I'm reading Atlas Shrugged again for about the fourth time. Either Ayn Rand had a prescient vision of this day and age, or Obama and his cronies are using it as a playbook, thinking Orren Boyle and James Taggart and Wesley Mouch are the heroes. It is uncanny how she pegged the liberal thought process. Or perhaps it's just that the old adage is true, "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."

[Radix]

"Better buy some ammo. You should already have the guns by now."

I am seriously anticipating that sometime in the not too distant future, the Internet will go black, and the lights will also grow dim in FReeper homes.

[mo]

Please add

Ellsworth Toohey=Henry Waxman

This picture of Waxman always brings Toohey to mind...

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/Henry_Waxman.jpg

[April Lexington]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS... FIND OUT HOW PEOPLE VOTED BEFORE DOING BUSINESS WITH THEM. This is how we can show passive resistance to the Left. I fired three Obama supported the week of the election. I WILL NOT, WILL NOT, WILL NOT provide a living for these sh*ts. Let them eat Obama’s cake... I hire and support conservatives (and, they are paid VERY well)...