If a modern-day John Galt is out there, if you know who he is and what he’s doing, he’s not doing it right, is he?
I don’t know but I hope he contacts me soon.
Thou art the man.
If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.
"A man who has a vision is not able to use the power of it until after he has performed the vision on earth for the people to see" -- Black Elk, Lakota shaman
Live the philosophy just like Ayn Rand who like the rest of us contemptible parasites took Social Security.
Although the book is well worth the time it takes to read (I’ve read it twice now).... if you just can’t find the time, the movie is a good substitute. It will take 3 movies to tell the whole story. Movie 1 has been out a while, and is showing on Netflix now. Movie 2 is supposed to be released October 2012
JG is running the Tea Party.
If that's his thing, whatever. My goal is to live for others, following the examples of Christ, of St. Francis, of St. Maximilian Kolbe, of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Some days I don't do very well at laying down my life or taking up my cross, but that's the goal.
If the economic solid waste impacts the sociological rotating blades, I have no intention of "going Galt." I will "go St. Francis," and give everything away, first.
How about an actual person, such as Davy Crockett or William B. Travis, who have inspired Texans for generations?
A fictional “action hero:” simply can’t generate the same devotion.
The last guy who tried to give the Federal Reserve a run, literally, for it’s money is sitting in a jail cell. Convicted of counterfeiting an “alternate” currency that never claimed to be “Federal” money.
—Where is a man who can save us? A man of virtue and action who can rebuild our economy and culture? We must find a true-to-life John Galt. —
If one has read the book, they will know when John Galt made himself known to the general public. We are not there yet. We will get there.
But I doubt there is a John Galt.
When the going gets tough, John Galt whines and runs away to hide. Is that the kind of hero you want?
The problem is, as Ayn Rand stated in her non-fiction books and in Atlas shrugged, that the dominant moral code in the country is based on Altruism; a code that holds that man has no right to exist for his own sake and must serve others to justify his existence. Ayn Rand has proven it beyond doubt in her books. You see it everywhere in TV shows, news commentary, schools, books and newspapers, in politicians speeches and in government programs. It is taught every Sunday in churches all across the land especially, although in a different form. The fundamental premise is exactly the same as that of socialism and Marxism and of the Nazis and every malevolent dictator who has ever lived. It is drummed into us from our earliest memories in children’s shows and Sunday school. And don’t get me started on college campuses. What chance does someone who wants to put into practice John Galt’s philosophy have to get elected in that environment when even most conservatives, including the vast majority of the TEA party, have bought into the lethal premise of Altruism? None. Barack Obama is the logical product of that philosophy and even his staunchest enemies accept his basic moral premises. It will all have to come crashing down just as it did in Atlas Shrugged. Hopefully there will be plenty of john Galts around to rebuild it under a different code. The one the country was originally founded on which is the fictional John Gault’s philosophy.
I’ve been kvetching about this for some time now. Nobody wants to go galt.
The person you need to step up is YOU. Do you produce wealth? Do you surrender it to the government on demand? Then you are funding America’s destruction.
You can whine all you please online, grumble through your keyboard about America’s decline, but if you are paying your taxes, your actions speak louder.
The Founders had careers too. They had families to support. Bills to pay. They put everything on the line.
If the government were faced with a legal tax revolt — the productive taxpayers suddenly going unproductive in order to deprive the government of taxes — the government would surrender promptly and beg for mercy.
Instead, you want to keep voting and hoping for relief that never comes. It’s 2012, you SEE what’s inevitably coming, and still you do nothing that makes any difference.
And don’t crow about your guns. If you surrender your money you’ll surrender your guns, when the demand comes. Even if you didn’t, they’d just wait until you went to work (to pay your taxes) and then they’d go in and take your guns. And your precious keyboard too.
Ain’t gonna happen. The Communist “Long March Through the Institutions” has been so successfully destructive of our nation that it is now only possible to turn this around when they have done all they can peacefully, and people revolt, either from the Left or the Right.
When that time comes (soon? . . . . ), I rather hope we have a George Washington than a John Galt.
Few realize the dollar does not float arbitrarily. The dollar has a declared standard of value: mundane labor. Thanks to the minimum wage laws, a dollar is worth 8.28 minutes of simple work which pretty much anybody can do with negligible training.
The continuing search for what doesn’t exist.
There is no hero who can “turn things around”.
There is no brilliant policy which will change the economic situation.
Only time can heal the USA and the world.
Keep Obama and the time will be longer, and the suffering will be worse.
American rank and file citizens must face facts, and many don’t want to face facts yet.
The entire world is in debt that cannot be serviced and must be deleveraged. The leadership is delaying the inevitable through various extend and pretend policies which are all just delaying tactics.
This situation requires a depression. We are having one, in slow motion due to the policies of those who control the financial levers. They prefer slow motion to extensive rioting and harsh deflation followed by inflation.
They will get all of the above anyway. There is no easy way out.
The vast majority doesn’t want to give up their own government pork. Until a year or so ago the nation’s biggest “entitlement” was the single payer socialized schooling system. Even among people who are otherwise conservative few are willing to wean themselves from the government tit.
Interesting article.
Speaking in practical terms for a moment, let’s examine this list not from a “what should be done” perspective, but “How it should be done” point of view, which is much more practical.
1.) Take Galt’s advice and “...start by abolishing all income taxes.”
The big problem here goes all the way back to the founding of the republic, which is “How do we fund the US government?” The constitution forbids the national government from taxing the states. But this question must be answered before the income tax can be abolished.
2.) Stop devaluing the U.S. dollar.
There just isn’t enough gold to back our currency with gold. So one proposal is called “extended mercantilism”, in which our currency is backed by all fungible, non-perishable commodities. This would mean the USG would back the dollar with our national strategic reserves to include all metals that we mine, oil, coal, wood and paper products, etc. Services, information products, etc. would not be included, because they are subjective in value.
3.) Never believe force will inspire entrepreneurs to innovate.
This is not entirely true. While force will kill technological development, the Soviets discovered that it changes research priorities to pure science.
4.) Let entrepreneurs produce.
There must be some regulation, as there are some entrepreneurs who are not of good character, whose products can harm the public. But this level of regulation should not need to be too intrusive, and must have strict limits.
5.) Live the philosophy of thinkers...
Nope. The ideal American philosophy is to be left alone. We have a government and police and military to do full time what we don’t want to do.
6.) Eliminate all anti-business rules.
This is pretty redundant with #4 above.
Apparently, a lot of people like Rand’s Objectivism, but didn’t read “Atlas Shrugged.” John Galt didn’t save anyone, and wouldn’t. Billions of people died, and civilization was utterly destroyed, while a few hundred people survived in a village like Syfy’s “Eureka.”