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Are Americans Going John Galt?
Human Events ^ | 4-30-10 | Doug Patton

Posted on 04/30/2010 1:21:29 PM PDT by smokingfrog

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."— Ayn Rand

Author and objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand was born in Russia just before the Bolshevik Revolution. She literally witnessed the slaughter and the dismantling of her country from the window of her father's pharmacy—which was subsequently seized by the Leninist state. As a young woman, she fled to the United States, where she never forgot what she saw in her native country. She developed a deep distrust of government as she became one of the most celebrated writers of the mid-20th Century.

Rand was eerily prescient when she penned the crown jewel of her literary career, the 1,100-page tome she appropriately titled, Atlas Shrugged. The novel was twice as long as it needed to be, filled with long philosophical soliloquies about the evils of socialism; but it was so prophetic concerning America's future that today, in the age of Obama, Pelosi and Reid, its annual sales far outpace those of 1957, the year it became a New York Times best seller.

Deep into the story, the main protagonist, John Galt, is revealed to the reader as a brilliant young engineer who has decided to stop the engine of the world. He has invented a motor that can convert static electricity into electric power, but he refuses to share his knowledge or his invention with the world in an atmosphere of ever-intrusive government intervention into the private sector.

(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aynrand; galt; johngalt
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Recent news reports say that the economy is improving because consumers are starting to spend again. Will this trend continue? How many FReepers that said "I'm going Galt" are still doing so?
1 posted on 04/30/2010 1:21:30 PM PDT by smokingfrog
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To: smokingfrog

I’m Galt for sure and will not spend until this idiot has gone


2 posted on 04/30/2010 1:22:05 PM PDT by manc (WILL OBAMA EVER GO TO CHURCH ON A SUNDAY OR WILL HE LET THE MEDIA/THE LEFT BE FOOLED FOR EVER)
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To: smokingfrog

forgot to add
a guy from MI who moved own here has been spending like crazy since bozo got in, course it’s all on credit cards, even yesterday he bought himself a steam cleaner and a power washer
yes he’s a left kook and believe me not all there in the head


3 posted on 04/30/2010 1:23:37 PM PDT by manc (WILL OBAMA EVER GO TO CHURCH ON A SUNDAY OR WILL HE LET THE MEDIA/THE LEFT BE FOOLED FOR EVER)
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To: smokingfrog

SPEND LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW.........


4 posted on 04/30/2010 1:26:15 PM PDT by Red Badger (When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you'll know that its desolation is NEAR. Luke 21)
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To: smokingfrog

Telemachus Sneezed ...


5 posted on 04/30/2010 1:27:56 PM PDT by Chi-townChief
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To: smokingfrog
Recent news reports say that the economy is improving because consumers are starting to spend again. Will this trend continue? How many FReepers that said "I'm going Galt" are still doing so?

Yes the reports keep saying the economy is improving. and then on the Friday news dump a correction report adjsuts the numbers "unexpectedly." Just today there was an article posted on FR noting that the 99 weeks of unemployment was about to expire for a lot of people.

While I don't agree with paying people to not work for nearly 2 years, eventually many of those people are going to lose their homes and cars. A lot of people refer to the economy as a house of cards..... I think of it as a Jenga game..... take a block from Peter and you give it to Paul. Take more blocks from Peter and you give them to Tom, Dick, and Harry. Peter is running out of bloks and the tower is going to fall.

6 posted on 04/30/2010 1:28:04 PM PDT by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy Saints surrounded)
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To: smokingfrog
The novel was twice as long as it needed to be, filled with long philosophical soliloquies about the evils of socialism;

The philosophical soliloquies were the core of the book. The rest was just to provide setting for the speeches.

7 posted on 04/30/2010 1:28:16 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (I am so immune to satire that I ate three Irish children after reading Swift's "A Modest Proposal")
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To: smokingfrog
Deep into the story, the main protagonist, John Galt, is revealed to the reader as a brilliant young engineer who has decided to stop the engine of the world. He has invented a motor that can convert static electricity into electric power, but he refuses to share his knowledge or his invention with the world in an atmosphere of ever-intrusive government intervention into the private sector.

Several Russian aircraft designers did some of their best work while serving time during WW2 in Stalin's prisons. Don't be so sure that the State can't squeeze you for your intellectual property. I will admit that to many of those Russian engineers patriotism trumped any problems that they had with the Soviet regime.

8 posted on 04/30/2010 1:30:54 PM PDT by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
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To: smokingfrog
I believe the reasons for the apparent improvement last quarter are; increased government spending (wealth transfer), tax refunds, and people not paying their mortgages now having cash to spend. As for increased company profits, I noticed that they are doing this with decreased revenues (look at CAT).
9 posted on 04/30/2010 1:31:46 PM PDT by yadent
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To: Chi-townChief

Fnord!


10 posted on 04/30/2010 1:34:29 PM PDT by Notary Sojac (Mi Tio es infermo, pero la carretera es verde!)
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To: KarlInOhio; smokingfrog
FReeper Book Club: Introduction to Atlas Shrugged
Part I, Chapter I: The Theme
Part I, Chapter II: The Chain
Part I, Chapter III: The Top and the Bottom
Part I, Chapter IV: The Immovable Movers
Part I, Chapter V: The Climax of the d’Anconias
Part I, Chapter VI: The Non-Commercial
Part I, Chapter VII: The Exploiters and the Exploited
Part I, Chapter VIII: The John Galt Line
Part I, Chapter IX: The Sacred and the Profane
Part I, Chapter X: Wyatt’s Torch
Part II, Chapter I: The Man Who Belonged on Earth
Part II, Chapter II: The Aristocracy of Pull
Part II, Chapter III: White Blackmail
Part II, Chapter IV: The Sanction of the Victim
Part II, Chapter V: Account Overdrawn
Part II, Chapter VI: Miracle Metal
Part II, Chapter VII: The Moratorium on Brains
Part II, Chapter VIII: By Our Love
Part II, Chapter IX: The Face Without Pain or Fear or Guilt
Part II, Chapter X: The Sign of the Dollar
Part III, Chapter I: Atlantis
Part III, Chapter II: The Utopia of Greed
Part III, Chapter III: Anti-Greed
Part III, Chapter IV: Anti-Life
Part III, Chapter V: Their Brothers’ Keepers
Part III, Chapter VI: The Concerto of Deliverance
Part III, Chapter VII: “This is John Galt Speaking”
Part III, Chapter VIII: The Egoist
Part III, Chapter IX: The Generator
Part III, Chapter X: In the Name of the Best Within Us
Coda: Ten Years After
Afterword and Suggested Reading
11 posted on 04/30/2010 1:34:29 PM PDT by Publius (Unless the Constitution is followed, it is simply a piece of paper.)
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To: Publius

bookmarked!


12 posted on 04/30/2010 1:36:51 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( - Free Men will always be armed with the Truth. - [ me ] -)
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To: smokingfrog

Up until the past few weeks, we have not been spending more on retail/discretionary items, and do not anticipate doing so anytime soon. We have had to spend more money lately due to some events of our lives recently, but have not just “gone shopping” for the fun of it.


13 posted on 04/30/2010 1:37:54 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: smokingfrog

Only thing I spend money on was a car. Would have preferred not to, but the old one would never have made it till 2012. (plus his CAFE standards scared me about what my choices might be in a couple of years)


14 posted on 04/30/2010 1:39:07 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: smokingfrog
Earn as little as necessary.

Spend as little as possible.

Stock up on food and ammo.

15 posted on 04/30/2010 1:40:09 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (FYBO: Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: smokingfrog

Only spending to stock up on those things I think will be necessary and less available, including homeschooling materials.


16 posted on 04/30/2010 1:46:17 PM PDT by FourPeas (God Bless America)
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To: yadent

CAT laid off many hundreds of workers.


17 posted on 04/30/2010 1:48:32 PM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: smokingfrog

Going Galt? Well I’m already earning almost nothing at a brain dead job.. not quite an unskilled track laborer but close ,,, as far as feeding the beast I recently started a not-for-profit and am using that umbrella to run and host several businesses that will (while legitimately helping others) help my family... also it opens me up to the world of “grants” ... until the rules change I’m playing the game as it’s presented. And I already have my own “Galts Gulch” up and running in a free country. I need more but I’m pretty well situated.


18 posted on 04/30/2010 1:49:32 PM PDT by Neidermeyer
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To: Publius

I read Atlas Shrugged for the 8th time Dec of 2008.

I stumbled on a series of books called the Ashes series written by W W Johnstone a few months back. There are over 25 books in the series. I have read 5 or so.
Read them in order, as it is easier to follow the story line.

Couldn’t put them down.

This is what America will be before much longer if NObama keeps up his destruction.


19 posted on 04/30/2010 1:50:44 PM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: Publius

bookmark


20 posted on 04/30/2010 1:52:32 PM PDT by Lorica
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