Free Republic

"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...

Popular Galt Pastor Mary Sanders leaves after church votes to secede from Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaA second Lutheran church in the Lodi-Galt area has voted to leave its parent organization over the liberalization of gay rights. The congregation at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church voted 49-12 on April 18 to part ways with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The vote resulted in Pastor Mary Sanders leaving the Galt church because of her desire to remain with the ELCA. The issue came to a head when the ELCA national convention voted on Aug. 21 to allow gays in...

So, what happens when the heart surgeons, dentists, litigators, and people who employ 10 or 20 other people in their mid-size businesses decide that they don’t want to pay for the excessive, pointless spending that the president finds so compelling? Instapundit speculates on people “going John Galt.” I think golf — a time-intensive sport that the hard-working have eschewed for the past decade or two because it took too long — will make a comeback.

On this thread and others I hope Freepers will discuss the ins and outs of becoming Amish. I'm not joking. Forget the Jews, the Amish are the chosen people this time around. God has favored them to be exempt from Kommie Kare and I want in on this. Your thoughts and strategies are valued. Legal opinions too. If I declare myself Amish am I Amish? I think I've always been Amish but just forgot to mention it to others

My husband and I have discussed ways to mitigate the punitive taxes that will be even greater next year. We have been saving like crazy and are thinking of "Going Galt" like the character in Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. John Galt, an industrial leader, drops out of a corrupt and unjust system until it implodes. Anyone else thinking along those lines?

The classic textbook example of the fallacy is a stadium full of seated people. When one person stands up, he gets a better view -- which he acquires at the expense of the people behind him. But if everyone stands up, then nobody's view is really improved. The fallacy is commonly committed when you conclude, after seeing that one person can live better at someone else's expense, that everyone can therefore live better at everyone else's expense. If a scheme relies on shifting costs to somebody else, then it will only work as long as someone exists to absorb the...

From Rush Limbaugh to President Obama, Ayn Rand and her book 'Atlas Shrugged' are recalibrating America.From Fox News to the passenger sitting next to you reading “Atlas Shrugged” on your commute to work, Ayn Rand seems to be everywhere. Since the economic collapse of 2008, the controversial novelist and philosopher has emerged as a leading intellectual on the right – and she’s been dead for nearly 30 years. Rush Limbaugh touts Rand as a prophet of sorts. “Ayn Rand, she wrote ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ ” he told his listeners. “The sequel, ‘Atlas Puked,’ we’re in the middle of it.” At the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new Internal Revenue Service unit set up to catch rich tax cheats hiding their wealth in complex business entities is rapidly taking shape with the hiring of hundreds of employees..... President Barack Obama has proposed tightening tax rules for U.S. multinationals, including one in which companies delay paying taxes on income earned offshore, a legal practice known as deferral that officials say is abused.... "With any new thing, you never want to be the guinea pig," Mary Lou Fahey, general counsel for the Tax Executive Institute, comprised of business executives, said.

The headline in Investor’s Business Daily, Sept. 16, 2009: “45% of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul.” The headline in the Boston Globe, Sept. 28, 2009: “States risk it, raise tax on rich.” The problem with four of nine U.S. doctors saying they “would consider leaving their practice or taking an early retirement” is that “the number of doctors is already lagging population growth,” reports IBD. Add millions of new patients to a shrinking supply of doctors and the obvious result is an English-style queue, longer waits in pain, and a centrally directed rationing of service....

Some guessed it would happen as we saw what TARP I and II and the financial industry and auto industry takeovers by the FedGov/BigBiz/BigUnion Borg. At the beginning of Spring 2009: Malkin wrote of it:Going Galt and then next Tea Party Wave And the NYT riffed on it:Going Galt: Everyones doing it Dave Weigel wrote:Battling Obama by Going Galt Wonkette scoffed -- 'Going Galt' is the new code word for laid-off Well? It's half a year later. I'm not sure. So I'm asking. Has the US of A gone Galt?

Many of you asked that I post the newest release when it came out. It's out. A fascinating and well done video adaptation from Ayn Rand's classic. My apologies if this has been posted already. A link to parts 1-6 can be found via this link.

July 14: Welcome Instapundit readers. The host seems to have bogged down a bit, but seems to be back (grrr ….). Remember that comments are moderated. I have two somewhat-related posts and a PJM column I’m trying to get through. Related, from July 12 at BizzyBlog, July 10 at Pajamas Media (in both cases BEFORE the release of the June 2009 Monthly Treasury Statement — “With Obamanomics, We’re Not Even $eeing Green.” __________________________________________ Summarizing the past quarter’s receipts after the release of today’s Monthly Treasury Statement (chart posted in the response below) Receipts, which I had estimated would be $230...

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and sometimes fiction becomes truth. Expect the phrase "going Galt" to become more common should the Obama administration continue with their soak the rich programs. The latest installment in the Democratic plan, as reported by the New York Times, is to "ask the wealthiest Americans to help pay for overhauling the health care system." As Stop the ACLU points out, "There is no asking. There will be no check box on their tax forms asking if they would like to pay a slightly higher rate so that grasshoppers, illegals, and people who could afford...

Conservatives who love their country, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and human liberty have had enough. Word came last night that a massive protest is planned in order to send Washington a message. On July 30, conservatives are 'going Galt,' named after Ayn Rand's famous character John Galt from her novel Atlas Shrugged, and thus refuse to show up for work. They plan to 'call in conservative.' From the Eastside TeaParty blog: "You knew this day was coming with a government ramming a socialist agenda down everyone’s throat.This may be the only way to wake our leaders up and...

Retailer Amazon.com has cut off its relationship with affiliates in North Carolina effective today, report people who have been involved in the company’s marketing program. Affiliates helped Amazon sell by advertising books, music and other goods on their Web sites. If a customer clicked through those links and bought something on the Web site, the affiliate received a share of that sale. “We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account has been closed as of June 26, 2009,” reads and e-mail Amazon sent to its affiliates today. “This is a direct result of...

These are just too good not to share. The production of these videos is very good for a youtuber. The videos personify the John Galt speech. You can see parts 1-6 here. http://www.thebigfeedblog.com/search/label/this%20is%20john%20galt%20speaking Part 1 is at the bottom of the page.

A sitting President of the United States is "organizing a political organization loyal to him, bound by a pledge, outside the government and existing party apparatus. The historical precedents are ominous." What is so ominous about an organization? Americans, Alexis de Tocqueville famously observed, "constantly form associations.... If it is proposed to inculcate some truth or to foster some feeling by the encouragement of a great example, they form a society."   Certainly, thousands of organizations seek to influence the political debate. There's Newt Gingrich's American Solutions or the left-wing People for the American Way, for instance. Political parties are another...

President Barack Obama’s rapid race into socialism is creating an escalating tax revolt. With a never-ending stream of stimulus packages and new entitlement programs, the Americans who will be stuck with the bill are shouting a clear message: “Enough!” Many organizations are calling for a Tax Day Tea Party (http://taxdayteaparty.com/) on April 15. To Democrats, “the rich” aren’t paying their “fair share,” but many of the top 20 percent of wage-owners who pay 83 percent of the income taxes are taking to the streets. Yes, Obama is my president, and as Warren Buffett said, “We’re all in the same boat.”...

Conservatives have ZERO power until the 2010 Elections. You can't win on Defense. Time to GENERATE CONSERVATIVE POWER. TAKE IT TO EM with OFFENSE. BOYCOTT. BOYCOTT the DEMOCRAT POWER BASE.   SHUT THESE LEECHES DOWN.   HELP THE STRONG GET STRONGER. BOYCOTT the next BUSINESS that ASKS for a BAILOUT. Don’t buy their PRODUCTS Don’t buy their SERVICES Transfer your POLICIES Sell their STOCKS Shift your DEPOSITS AND INVESTMENTS BOYCOTT the BUSINESSES that WASTED their BAILOUTS. BOYCOTT the BUSINESSES that NEVER REPAID their BAILOUTS. BOYCOTT every BUSINESS that GOES UNIONIZED. Our government already has. Make Card-Check a Bankruptcy Declaration.  ...

"This is not a Democrat thing or a Republican thing. It's a government thing."