WHERE IS JOHN GALT?
Those of you who have read Ayn Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, know that today many of the state sponsored attacks on capitalism that Rand wrote about almost 60 years ago, are now coming true.
Those who are committed Objectivists (Rand's name for her philosophy) are horrified by the government's usurpation of private industry and private capital in the name of altruistic collectivism.
" Who is John Galt?" is the phrase repeated with mind-numbing regularity by the depressed and downtrodden in Rand's book. They say the phrase without knowing what it means or implies. In Atlas Shrugged, Galt leads a strike of capitalists against the government's intrusion into private industry. Rather than give in and give up (Can you say "Rick Wagoner?") the leaders and producers of industry just disappear. Without them, society collapses.
So where are the industrialists and capitalists rebelling against the government's unprecedented entry into private business?
Today, rather than fighting collectivism, so called business leaders like Rick Wagoner, formerly of GM, and formerly a man, merely yelp "how high?" when President Obama says "jump".
Dr. Jack Wheeler, a leading capitalist philosopher who supports concepts like rational self interest, has written that the question today is not "who is John Galt?" but "where is John Galt?"
Wheeler writes:
" Today, the fascist nightmare that is destroying America is hideously similar to that described by Rand over fifty years ago. But if we ask today, not who is John Galt but where is John Galt, the question echoes in the wind with no answer."
The answer is that John Galt is inside of us.
Wheeler concludes:
Thus true patriotism begins with you. It begins with all of us. Ayn Rand was a monumental genius. She saw clearly the consequences of fascist anti-capitalist liberalism in the halcyon days of the 1950s. We are now in 2009 living in the world of Atlas Shrugged—but without John Galt. Unless each of us takes responsibility for our own fate and chooses to be our own John Galt. Look inside yourself. That’s where you’ll find him."
Rumpole says:
We didn't sign up for living in Beijing, or Moscow, or Havana. But that's where we're ending up. Government subsidies and government sponsorship didn't create DOS, or the hard drive, or the Intel micro-processor, or the IPOD or the I-Phone, so what makes us think that government ownership of banks will make things better or that government ownership of GM and Chrysler will create a profitable generation of green powered vehicles?
Businesses succeed or fail based on the market and their owner's ability to meet the demands of the market. It's a zero sum game. Like a jury trial. You make a profit or not. You win or you lose.
Or in 2009 you lose, then you lose some more; then you cry that the world can't live without your product; then you get a few billon dollars in tax money that I never agreed to give; then you do what your masters in Washington tell you to do.
Ahh.....what's the use? Who is John Galt?
20 comments:
thats judge piniero's courtroom...
great stuff
the ultimate
Rumpole, you supported Obama in these pages, while I and a few forward-thinking people told everyone who'd listen what would happen to us under his administration. Time has proven us right, so, eat your free ice cream.
America's descent into tyranny is inevitable, as sure as the laws of gravity. It has been noted that every democracy goes through 8 stages:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage.
The United States is somewhere between 6 and 7. Each day we surrender more of our freedom to the government in hopes of increased security, whether it be guarantees of jobs, health care, or just relieving us of the every day stresses of living in a society where one must be responsible for one's own actions. Believing that the government can provide us with the material benefits of life by making our neighbors pay for it is a powerful narcotic. But the sad part is that our fall back into bondage is inevitable. It is coming in the next fifty years. And when it happens, it will be welcomed by the majority of people as a necessary evil to guarantee more security.
who needs amazon when I can read a book here
The problem with our justice system is systemic. Some police officers make it up, outright lying, too many ASA’s lack the integrity and courage to confront these masters of deception, and too Judges don’t care, it’s a paycheck. Here is one for your reference, I was in Zabel’s courtroom a few weeks ago and watched an officer testify during a probably cause hearing. The testimony was so outrageous, the courtroom burst into laughter, chiding “she’s lying.” The officer could not keep her testimony consistent, she just made it up, exaggerating ever more as she went. Although the cops version was a factual impossibility, moking her testimony obviously false, you know the answer, the ASA’s and the Judge did nothing about it. This is the problem with the system.
So, Rumpole, under your theory, you would let hundreds of thousands of auto workers, parts manufacturers, and other direct and indirect employees of GM, Chrysler, and Ford lose their jobs? Unemployment would then spike to 20%, and that, in your view, would be a better result?
Your philosophy would also allow these mega-banks to go under, thus making it impossible for the credit market to work. To be clear, this would result in the fact that no one without capital would be able to buy a home, start a business, run a business, etc. Only the people who hold the capital would be able to do anything.
Sounds like pure Economic Darwinism to me, and that would send us back to Feudalism, basically.
Herbert Hoover shared your philosophy. How'd his approach turn out?
nope 12:57, time has proven you to be very wrong. Unregulated capitalism leads only to greedy manipulation. Human nature being what it is. After they right the ship, things will get back to normal. But we should never let this happen again. Controlled Capitalism is good. Greed is not. And rumpole, u are a twit.
Yes, but when people tried to oppose Obama during the campaign, they were all called racists. You get what you ask for. In fact, Rumpole refused to post my comments whenever I wrote anything critical of Obama during the campaign. You deserve Obama. He's coming to remove you from your job and your house next. I bet you don't post this message either.
Another incoherent, unreadable, Ayn Rand rant, in honor of her incoherent unreadable books; Rumpole seems to be good for one of these every two or three months.
and when Galt morphs into Madoff -- what then, you Rand sycophant?
Or is it that Galt is Gordon Gecko?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_re_us/stevens
Will David Markus prosecutors face the same?
Stevens case closed, case against prosecutors open
By NEDRA PICKLER and MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writers Nedra Pickler And Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writers
22 mins ago
WASHINGTON – A federal judge dismissed the corruption conviction of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens on Tuesday and took the rare and serious step of opening a criminal investigation into prosecutors who mishandled the case.
"In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said.
Sullivan appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Justice Department lawyers who repeatedly mishandled witnesses and withheld evidence from defense attorneys during the monthlong trial. Stevens was convicted in October of lying on Senate forms about home renovations and gifts he received from wealthy friends.
The case cost Stevens a Senate seat he had held for 40 years. Once the Senate's longest-serving Republican, he narrowly lost to Democrat Mark Begich shortly after the verdict.
As Sullivan dismissed the case, Stevens turned to his friends and held up a fist in victory as his wife and daughters broke into loud sobs.
"Until recently, my faith in the criminal system, particularly the judicial system, was unwavering," Stevens told the court Tuesday, his first public comments since Attorney General Eric Holder announced he would drop the case. "But what some members of the prosecution team did nearly destroyed my faith. Their conduct had consequences for me that they will never realize and can never be reversed."
Sullivan appointed Washington attorney Henry Schuelke as a special prosecutor to investigate contempt and obstruction by the Justice Department team. Schuelke is a former prosecutor and veteran defense attorney who was tapped to oversee a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into influence-peddling allegations against former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato in 1989.
Sullivan said the matter was too serious to be left to an internal investigation by the department, which he said has dragged its feet looking into the misconduct. He criticized former Attorney General Michael Mukasey for not responding to complaints of misconduct in the case: "Shocking, but not surprising," Sullivan said.
In a criminal case, the prosecutors could face prison time and fines. The decision raises the question of whether the prosecutors, who include the top two officials in the department's public corruption unit, can remain on the job while under criminal investigation.
Subjects of the probe are Brenda Morris, the lead prosecutor in the Stevens case and the No. 2 official in the Public Integrity Section; Public Integrity prosecutors Nicholas Marsh and Edward Sullivan; Alaska federal prosecutors Joseph Bottini and James Goeke; and William Welch, who did not participate in the trial but who supervises the Public Integrity section.
Judge Sullivan repeatedly scolded prosecutors for their behavior during trial. After the verdict, an FBI whistleblower accused the team of misconduct and Sullivan held prosecutors in contempt for ignoring a court order.
The prosecution team was replaced and, last week, new prosecutors acknowledged that key evidence was withheld from Stevens. That evidence included notes from an interview with the government's star witness, contractor Bill Allen.
On the witness stand, Allen said a mutual friend told him not to expect Stevens to pay for the home renovation project because Stevens only wanted the bill to cover himself. It was damaging testimony that made Stevens look like a politician scheming to cover his tracks while accepting freebies.
But in the previously undisclosed meeting with prosecutors, Allen said he had no recollection of such a discussion. And he valued the renovation work at far less than what prosecutors alleged at the trial.
"I was sick in my stomach," attorney Brendan Sullivan said Tuesday, recalling seeing the new evidence for the first time. "How could they do this? How could they abandon their responsibilities? How could they take on a very decent man, Ted Stevens, who happened to be a United States senator, and do this?"
With the prosecution team now under the scrutiny Stevens felt for years, the 85-year-old smiled and posed for pictures with his family on the courthouse steps.
"I'm going to enjoy this wonderful day," he said.
Rump,
Your examples of the wonders of private enterprise (DOS, Iphone, etc..) all couldn't function without the internet. Created by government money (our money) disbursed wisely into universities, government agencies, and private industry. The other most innovative technology of this century is the atomic bomb, also created by the government with government money.
Will we get something similarly revolutionary by nationalizing the auto industry? I hope so, and I feel certain that the solution to our energy/environmental/terrorism problems (all obviously caused by our need to send supertankers sailing the seas to the Middle East to load up on oil) won't be found by Rick Wagoner. I doubt even you'd bet on a management team run by him over one run by Barack Obama.
Unregulated, untaxed capitalism has been tried. For the last 8 years. Here we are. It's time to figure out a way out of the mess we're in. With all due respect, the problem is that the philosophy of Ayn Rand has been adhered to too much, not too little, in American government.
i can't wait for football season so that rump can focus his attention on what matters...gambling.
What succesfull industrialists are you talking about? All the businesses you speak of are failed and looking for government support. You don't see anybody messing with Coke or McDonalds do you? I read a lot of Ayn and I dont remember her exalting "industrialists" begging for handouts to pay their 7 figure bonuses. Please stop pirating Ayn Rands work to make your point, whats happening now has nothing to do with Atlas or The Fountainhead.
John Galt already moved to Asia. Just ask Jim Rogers.
I cannot believe how blind some people continue to be, like sheep led to the Slaughter by Farmer Obama. Unbelievable. Ask the Soviets, Cubans, Venezuelans, or any other group of citizens who have had a fascist, communist, or socialist leader foisted on them. And don't give me the "Obama is not a socialist" crap. You are deaf, dumb (and I don't mean unable to speak) and blind if you don't think that. The image of Obama talking about unilateral nuclear disarmament and dismantling of the missile shield - which our allies put themselves in great jeopardy by agreeing to - while a Taepodong sails over his head is more than symbolic. It is instructive. This guy is dangerous, and even those that supported Obama during the election are now able to see that.
To all those who did vote for Obama, on behalf of the rest of us, apology accepted - provided you learn your lesson and listen to the grownups next time. Now let's get back to building the bunker.
The Great Depression. The S&L mess of the 1980s. The current "Great Recession." What do they all show? Pure, unadulterated capitalism does not work. Capitalism works--with a sufficient, though not overwhelming and stifling, amount of government oversight and regulation.
Greed is a human instinct. On a more esoteric level, and please be honest with yourself, if you could obtain $100 million right now, through questionable means but with no consequences, would you? I would, and so would 99% of you. Admit it. No more mortgage payments, worrying about cash flow, worrying about major unexpected expenses, etc.
On a more practical level, think about our law practices. 99% of us are trying to find ways to earn higher fees, bring in "bigger" cases and show that we are superior to other attorneys. Who wants to be known as some low fee hack taking low-fee clients that most other lawyers will send out the door?
In the sense that it forces us to make ourselves better, makes us to strive to improve--greed is good. In the sense that it causes us to go for the gold, consequences and effects be damned, greed is bad. Human nature tends to the latter, and thus must be resonably controlled.
I challenge all the anti-capitalists to name one country where the socialist/communist experiement has proven successful.
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