Who is John Galt?

I remember a few years back after the company I worked for had come up with yet another scheme to remove some benefits and increase hours but present it in a way that was so confusing the average employee got lost trying to figure it out, I spent some time explaining what they were doing in layman's terms to several of my coworkers. More than a few didn't believe me because they couldn't wrap their minds around the numbers. I admit I didn't work with a bunch of brain surgeons so I expected that but after a couple of weeks when they finally saw what was happening one Woman in particular came up and questioned why if I could figure out management's obscure and vague explanation and see what would happen was I wasting my time driving a forklift around.

I simply said "Who is John Galt?"

It wasn't until the first part of the movies came out that she even understood what I meant by that but before I walked away from that job I did have the satisfaction of her stopping by to say she finally got it.

It's not that I am a big Ayn Rand fan. Personally I don't agree with some of her moral messages and I always found it humorous that she would condemn communism and accurately predict it's eventual ruination of our civilization while championing one of it's chief vehicles. She took a problem that she could see quite plainly developing decades before others could and over simplified it. Honestly though I think she simply under-estimated the number of Dagny-like hold outs, those who were capable but also couldn't walk away either. To many of them the trade off was still worth it. She also totally under estimated American ideology and bastions such as the Constitution that decreased the decline enough that many producers were caught like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot. Most importantly however she under estimated how powerful and all knowing the State would become and the alluring holding power of White guilt.

There is no Galt's Gulch because there is nowhere the government cannot find you these days so there is nowhere for potential Galt's to go.

However her prophesies are still coming true. Government is literally making their own Galt's every day using programs such as Affirmative Action, Hiring quotas, etc. which by pass ability for the perceived need of another. Government is also allowing our infra-structure to crumble while they complain about funds and take on initiatives they have no business getting into. 

I will use the Highway department of my Own state here as an example. Ever since they failed to convince the citizens to vote them a special tax it has been nothing but whining about money. Yet they still place 100K plus solar powered signs on the roads telling people to buckle up or hang up their phones while driving. There have been no cuts to bloated positions, no removal of high maintenance items with little payout nor attempts to fix the problem in anyway except to threaten the public with reduced road maintenance and snow removal.

Ayn Rand's prophecy was pretty much on track from the government and liberal socialist side of things. Why I can just hear every word the Golfer in Chief speaks like it's coming from Head of State Thompson or Miegs right out of her decades old novel. What Ayn got wrong was just who John Galt would be and how that persona would manifest itself. I submit that there are literally millions of Galts out there and growing.

The only real problem is there is no gulch for us to hide away in we have to settle for small bolt holes that stay under the radar so to speak.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!