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‘I’m just quitting’: A scene right out of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ in Birmingham
David McElroy ^ | July 20th, 2011 | David McElroy

Posted on 07/25/2011 7:22:50 AM PDT by FreedomPoster

If it had been a scene in “Atlas Shrugged,” the guy would have disappeared into the secrecy of Colorado with a shadowy figure who we would later learn to be John Galt. In real life, the story will probably be more complex. But I wonder how long it’s going to be before businesspeople really do start walking away and deciding it’s not worth doing business in America today. Or it it already happening and we just don’t know it?

The man you see in the picture at the right is named Ronnie Bryant. He operates coal mines in Alabama. I’d never heard of him until this morning, but after what I saw and heard from him, I’d say he’s a bit like a southern version of Ellis Wyatt from Ayn Rand’s novel. What I saw made an impression on me.

(Excerpt) Read more at davidmcelroy.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: 0default; 0planners; 0police; 0teachers; alabama; atlasshrugged; aynrand; birmingham; bryant; coalmines; colorado; economy; elliswyatt; galt; goinggalt; johngalt; rand; ronniebryant; unemployment; wyatt
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To: wbill

We have good friends who are veterinarians. You can sell property such as a clinic building, but the practice itself is so dependent upon the personal interactions of the clients with the vet, that it isn’t a commodity. No one *owns* a client base. About all a professional can do is grow into a corporate practice and then sell out to the remaining practitioner partners, assuming all that growth was actually successful or not so stressful as to almost not be worth it. A sole practitioner really has nothing to sell.


101 posted on 07/25/2011 10:23:38 AM PDT by reformedliberal
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To: FreedomPoster

Nice. Looking forward to it.


102 posted on 07/25/2011 10:27:21 AM PDT by Pan_Yan
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To: houeto

“Less than one minute apart ...mirrors of thought and impact.

I’ve seen this occur hundreds of times. It is a Free Republic phenomenon that I have never witnessed anywhere else on the net. “

You will be assimilated - Signed the FR Borg


103 posted on 07/25/2011 10:38:10 AM PDT by listenhillary (It still increases the debt limit.)
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To: Anima Mundi

“There is no such thing as “ordinary people”. We are ordinary or extraordinary as we so choose to be. And, when we choose to be ordinary that is okay, it does not require any special treatment.”

I just got off of a call from a friend of mine in the UK. He told me an anecdote about something Ronald Reagan ran across while touring one of the space centers here in the US.

A janitor was spotted in a hallway that was supposed to be cleared by Secret Service. Reagan spotted the man, who was shuffling his rolling cart and waste bucket, out of a door at the behest of Secret Service.

Reagan saw that the man was more than compliant, and after checking with security, greeted the man in the hall.

Reagan greeted the man, and as an icebreaker asked the man what he did there at the space center. From people there, as soon as he asked the question he sort of wanted to pull it back, given the man was pushing a janitorial cart.

What surprised him was the reply:

“Mr. President, I help build the finest spacecraft on earth, and they put men in orbit, and on the moon.”

There’s no such thing as ‘only a janitor’.

I have no idea whether this story is true. The point of it remains valid.

In any significant effort, all jobs matter.


104 posted on 07/25/2011 10:40:23 AM PDT by RinaseaofDs (Does beheading qualify as 'breaking my back', in the Jeffersonian sense of the expression?)
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To: FreedomPoster

Read the comments below the article. Chilling.
Bryant isn’t the only one throwing in the towel.


105 posted on 07/25/2011 10:50:16 AM PDT by Vinnie
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To: zeugma
Talking to her is like talking to someone who lives on a different planet, or in a different universe

I frequently debate with a Lib in the office. He's a decent sort, if a bit misguided. I suspect that he thinks the same of me. :-)

He couldn't understand that people would actively *choose* to make less money. He just couldn't conceive of it. "I'm sure that, given a choice between making 50K/yr and 100K/yr, that people will always choose the higher number. Always, and without exception."

He didn't believe me when I told him about some of the businessmen I know. (see my previous posts)

Hell, I doubt he believed me when I told him that *I* choose not to make more money as, say, a Computer Consultant. With the Gov't taking 1/2 of the difference (say between my regular gig, and consulting) right off the top, what would be the point to working twice as hard and having far less job security? Unless there's a significant payback to accepting the risk (right now, there is not) ... why accept it?

106 posted on 07/25/2011 10:51:21 AM PDT by wbill
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To: MrB

bump coal/energy


107 posted on 07/25/2011 10:57:34 AM PDT by Taffini ( Mr. Pippen and Mr. Waffles do not approve and neither do I)
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108 posted on 07/25/2011 11:05:52 AM PDT by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
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To: GeronL
And what will those people do when they get their wish and most of their town is unemployed

Those who had their jobs destroyed will wonder what happened. The smarter ones will move on, or perhaps learn a new trade that still has a demand. Perhaps the slower of them will blame folks like Mr. Bryant.

Those who destroyed the jobs will self-righteously, and with a completely clean conscience, move on to their next target.

109 posted on 07/25/2011 11:14:47 AM PDT by wbill
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To: reformedliberal
About all a professional can do is grow into a corporate practice and then sell out to the remaining practitioner partners

That's exactly what he did, and also (now that he's thinking about retirement) what he's now attempting to do. No one wants to step into his role as the "owner / manager".

He could sell to competitors (I think that he entertained an offer at one time), or close the practice completely (approximtely the same thing, only he makes $$$ with the former) ... but this evil, greedy, capitalistic so-and-so (/sarc) feels a responsibility to all of the people who work for him, and frankly, the patients, too. He doesn't want to put several dozen people out of work, esp. in a market like this.

So, he keeps on going. He's removed himself from a lot of the day-to-day - his people seem to have no problem with making decisions, so long as they don't accept responsibility to go along with them. :-) His attitude is, more-or-less, "Meh, I'm still making money, but don't really care one way or the other. Retirement is paid for, Kid's college bills are paid for, now I'd just like to get my own time and enjoy the grandkids." But the current environment, and his sense of responsibility, won't let him.

And don't get the guy started on Obamacare. Never mind the business side, he says that his medical training is going to come in handy for himself and the rest of his family, later.

110 posted on 07/25/2011 11:29:38 AM PDT by wbill
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To: FreedomPoster

If Ronnie Bryant meant what he said in that meeting, then I think I found a new hero. I will aspire to have cajones like that!


111 posted on 07/25/2011 11:37:14 AM PDT by C.O. Correspondence (The IRS has reported they can now, scientifically get blood from a turnip.)
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To: FreedomPoster

If Ronnie Bryant meant what he said in that meeting, then I think I found a new hero. I will aspire to have cajones like that!


112 posted on 07/25/2011 11:37:28 AM PDT by C.O. Correspondence (The IRS has reported they can now, scientifically get blood from a turnip.)
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To: Publius

Thanks. Such a shame to see this country run down by those who can’t even handle their own problems.


113 posted on 07/25/2011 11:55:25 AM PDT by wizr (Keep the Faith! Even when it gets tough! Nothing else will do.)
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To: waterhill

Teton County has high taxes.


114 posted on 07/25/2011 12:11:55 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: FreedomPoster; Lazmataz
"I have an 1100 gallon rainwater tank under my deck."

Hmmmmm. That tank could easily have an interior partition full of subsidized ethanol for all we know. Mentioning Laz wuz the tipoff;-)

115 posted on 07/25/2011 12:18:16 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Publius

Thanks for the ping.

Perhaps we should keep a tally of the public “Gulchers.”

Until we get shed of Obongo Bozo and his LIEberal/Socialist/Marxist/Fascicst minions, there will be more businessmen and women who will just throw up their hands, close their business’s doors and go to their version of Galt’s Gulch.


116 posted on 07/25/2011 12:30:47 PM PDT by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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To: Publius

PS Is it 2012 yet?


117 posted on 07/25/2011 12:31:51 PM PDT by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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To: Paladin2

118 posted on 07/25/2011 12:53:05 PM PDT by maine-iac7 (I AM ISRAEL)
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To: 2001convSVT

Obama and his thugs are doing to same thing to the natural gas and oil business here in Texas and Louisiana. He talks a good game on natural gas, but his departments and leftwing/marxist accomplices are actually destroying our domestic energy production with regulations and lawsuits.

He is also destroying the farming industry with the same stuff...so don’t think for a moment that you can escape the marxist’s grasp by going to your own private property..they are out to get that too. The next they they are going to do is try to raid everyone’s 401 accounts....mark my word.


119 posted on 07/25/2011 12:59:27 PM PDT by penelopesire (Let The Congressional Hearings Begin!)
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To: maine-iac7
I've been to some of the gulches around Meeteetse and viewed them from the air. It's the most likely spot.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_74d9ecec-bc8f-11df-bc2a-001cc4c002e0.html

120 posted on 07/25/2011 1:23:02 PM PDT by Paladin2
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