Going John Galt: Stop–UPDATED
March 4, 2009 / 6:05 pm • By Dr. Melissa ClouthierHere is what business people do, or rather don’t do, when the government goes too far with taxation: they stop.
They stop hiring.
They stop expanding.
They stop investing.
They stop risking.
They stop paying more taxes.
The stop earning.
They stop buying.
Screw the government, small business owners say, if I make the same amount of money whether I grow or not, why grow? Why, indeed. And worse, as the letter to the editor writer in the LA Times quoted by Michelle Malkin says:
I have no incentive to hire people or expand my business, because the more I make, the more President Obama will take to expand government. This discourages expansion of the private sector. It will backfire with disastrous consequences for all.
It is repulsive that Obama is being allowed to take this country backward by pickpocketing the very people who run the private sector through their energy, money and creativity.
Kay Santos
Diamond Bar
A good chunk of the slow down right now is that businesses are frozen–and not in the credit way. Those who don’t need credit (can still get it) are sitting out of the game. And the country is going down the tubes and President Obama is “dismissive”:
So how many people are going to make $250,000 now that President Obama has made that the cut-off? Yeah, that many. Like, none. It will be a function of two things: purposefully not making that much money and the government killing so much value that a person can’t make that much money if he wants to make that much money.
Here’s what people will do. They’ll stop:
By going John Galt – reducing my income to the point that I no longer subsidize anyone else via government imposed wealth transfers – I hope to hasten the inevitable collapse. The H.E.N.R.Y.s feel the same way; people who are in the dreaded eeevil, mean capitalist pig $250,000 bracket are cutting back on their productivity. As they should – where does society get the right to enslave these people? The faster the 40% opts out, the sooner the collapse, and the sooner we can correct the situation.
Think of it as praying the alcoholic in your family will hit rock bottom sooner, rather than later. It’s time to stop enabling the entitlement mentality. It’s time to let go of our co-dependency and desire to be liked. It’s time for an intervention. It’s time to go John Galt.
Meanwhile, President Obama puts in place a stupid, demeaning distraction by going after Rush Limbaugh. Ed Morrissey says, “If the first six weeks of the Barack Obama administration can be summed up in one sentence, it would be this: Obama fiddled with Rush Limbaugh while Wall Street burned.”
A friend called today and said that he had a discussion with a guy who couldn’t understand why his realtor wife was upset,”The home deduction change will only affect rich people.”
Enough people feel that way, have so absorbed and taken in the class hatred put forth by President Obama that they will be surprised when they themselves drown when they go down with the ship. Of course, those who are irresponsible and bought on credit have little, they wrongly believe, to lose. It’s only those who actually bought into the “ownership society”, those who invested, saved, bought a house, paid off their cars and lived within their means who have something to lose.
The rest of the citizenry feels entitled to living rich and have done so. Since the easy money parade seems to be over, they’d like to bring everyone down with them.
At least we’ll all be equally dead. Reminds me of the lady on Oprah who said, “I liked you better when you were fat. It made me feel better about myself.” This disgusting impulse reigns and President Obama has encouraged it.
Before I finish this, I’d like to address motive. Is President in over his head or mendaciously driving the country to failure so he can be free to rebuild a Utopia in his image? President Obama’s amateurish foreign policy would seem to indicate the former, but I think it’s both.
President Obama is the ultimate theorist and professor. He’s going to “teach” the silly students the way things ought to be and if they have to learn tough lessons, so be it. He seems utterly unconcerned about real-world results.
Well, it’s not all helplessness and doom. The people are beginning to revolt. And maybe Newt is right. Maybe Obama presents an opportunity to “define the arguments”. My fear is that conservative principles will win the argument, but the war will already be lost.
P.S. And the war lost will be helped by guys like this.
UPDATED:
As Troglopundit points out, producers aren’t going off-grid and escaping the system in strict Ayn Rand fashion. :
Same thing here. Potential Galtians are go-getters, entrepreneurs. They’re the kind of people who make things happen. They’re not going to risk losing whatever ground they could have once the recession is over; once President Obama is former President Obama.
No: they’re out buying as much stock as possible. Because things are at bargain levels right now.
Just wanted to point that out. When we say “going John Galt,” we’re really talking about something less severe than Rand-style “going John Galt.”
Well, we still have to eat. And food-stamps are embarrassing.
24 Responses to “Going John Galt: Stop–UPDATED”
March 4 2009 / 6:25 pm
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A way of *going Galt* hardly anyone thinks of is pulling out of the stock market. Equities are part ownership of every business whose stock is held. Higher capital gains taxes and a plunging market are forcing many to go Galt.
Another way to go Galt is to participate in the underground economy, both in cash jobs, or side jobs, as well as trading good/services over cash retail transactions and employment for untraceable income and purchases(avoiding paying sales tax).
Another important way is for EVERYONE to take the payment plans offered by the IRS to keep taxes you will have to pay immediately unavailable to the Geithner the Tax Cheat.
Anyone who can afford a lawyer should just refuse to pay taxes and force the over-budget communist gov’t to bring them to court.
Tax boycott is the only real way to resist a communist takeover being done with illegal, unconstitutional extorted tax remittances.
March 4 2009 / 6:28 pm
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These “Tea Parties” are just useless symbolism if people refuse to back them up with action. Hussein doesn’t give a rodent’s rear-end that his enemies don’t like him, unlike the Knee-Pad RINO, collaborating Quislings in the Gay Old Panderer’s country club.
March 4 2009 / 9:20 pm
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I totally agree with David regarding the Tea Parties. It’s just useless unless the people back it up with substance. Otherwise we fall into the same symbolism trap that the Democrats are so good at. Symbolism works for them because they love the fluff. It’s emotional and it costs them nothing.
Substance is much more difficult to come by. This is an area where the Republicans should excell at, but for some reason fall flat.
Obama won 52% of the vote. He had a popularity rating of around 60% (slightly less now, but it’s roughly holding). If he maintains that, then he’s good to go. He doesn’t want the conservatives. He’s got the liberals. The question will be whether the moderates want to keep him. Right now, I see a lot of anger from the right (and rightly so). I don’t see all that much from the middle, which is disturbing.
It’s frustrating when one sees Republican congressmen and women vote for the stuff he’s advocating. It does make me wonder if the Republican party should just fall apart and have another one take its place.
March 4 2009 / 10:01 pm
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I disagree that Tea Parties are useless. I was at the DC Tea Party (I brought the huge Chuckie Schmuckie Schumer “let them eat pork” sign) and two benefits:
1. It was a great morale booster for those involved. Many CPAC attendees strolled over. I met a young conservative lady who was a freshman at Hampshire College who was holding her own at the “most liberal college in America.” Positively inspirational.
2. A DC bureucrat was walking by and asked me what group was putting this on and what was it for? This poor lady had NO IDEA that there was dissent for the mortgage policies of the Magic Marxist. She watched the MSM and thought SHE was the only one who thought it was wrong.
So, the Tea Parties DO do some good. And they’re just a start. A start at SOMETHING. Nobody else was doing squat and Rick Santelli’s outburst could not go un-used.
———
to David above: I like the going John Galt, but if money is pulled out of the stock market, where do you put it? for security? for diversification? I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you just wondering. Also, I hear someone say that it’s all part of the Soetoro plan that you will take it out of the stock market and invest it in muni bonds…you know, fund the freakin’ government largess.
So where to put it?
March 4 2009 / 11:59 pm
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Melissa,
About your comment:
“Before I finish this, I’d like to address motive. Is President in over his head or mendaciously driving the country to failure so he can be free to rebuild a Utopia in his image?”
I vote for “mendaciously driving the country to failure” to create a totalitarian state where he will be president-for-life. The economic meltdown is his equivalent to Hitler’s fire in the Reichstag, which he used to get control of a frightened Germany.
I have some posts about Obama on my blog, A Conservative Lesbian, which explain the reason behind his contradictions and everything he does: he is a sociopath. Just click the category, “Barack Obama.” Once you understand what a sociopath is and how one behaves, you can be safer. I’m not just calling him a bad name. I cite and explain how excerpts from Dr. Martha Stout’s book, “The Sociopath Next Door,” explain Obama’s behavior. I hope you’ll drop by and tell me what you think.
March 5 2009 / 2:08 am
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Ex,
I reiterate that the Tea Parties are useless unless they actually accomplish something. That remains to be seen. If they do, that’s fantastic. However, I think that it’s just a feel-good thing that will go away (I hope I’m wrong). We’ll see how effective it is when this other stuff comes up for a vote.
Cynthia,
I agree with you. I also think that driving the country is not only a desired result, but I think it’s almost inevitable at this point.
March 5 2009 / 7:39 am
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This is a massive power grab and they want to take advantage of the initial conditions right away. This is risky because they are exposing themselves and their agenda to more and more people. The administration is in uncharted waters though, and the inevitable John Galt reaction, which I am participating in my own way, will hasten the problems.
The question is which will come first, a political/legislative correction or a total takeover. A terrorist attack, which Obama may be inviting, can be used to facilitate the takeover.
Leftists still need production, and this is why they always have to start wars to get everyone’s cooperation. And going John Galt in that environment can be labeled as unpatriotic behavior.
I have learned that everything leftists accuse others of, they secretly wish to do themselves. The thief thinks everyone is out to steal from him.
The American people need a crash course on leftism and how it works. Limbaugh knows these leftists well, and he is telling everyone who will listen exactly what they are doing. The fact that Rahm Emmanuel blundered into engaging him gives me some hope that they are flying blind.
March 5 2009 / 8:30 am
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This john Galt idea will work,Believe it or not this book was pirated and snuck into the old Soviet Union (Obamas personal obsesion of the
perfect utopia).The unwashed mass had a fatalist saying,”AS LONG AS THE GOVERMENT PRETENDS TO PAY US,WE WILL PRETEND TO WORK!”
March 5 2009 / 9:12 am
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Although Rand for the purposes of her story made Galt’s decision purposeful, and the “retraction” of talent and resources only among the “elite”, I believe the “Galt Effect” will occur organically.
Adam Smith’s accurate observation that citizens act in their personal interest will be made obvious. And avoidance of government burdens will be practiced not only entrepreneurs and the various and (highly necessary to the economy)risk-takers, but a majority of folks who simply want to retain the fruit of their labors.
Book it.
March 5 2009 / 9:41 am
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To ex-Democrat: good question about where to put it(withdrawn investments).
Most people have not thought very far ahead to the very unpleasant possibilities of collapse. Because there a couple generations of people who have never gone without basic services, they don’t consider such a possibility. THEY ARE VERY POSSIBLE!
Electrical blackouts, water shut-offs, riots and loss of emergency services and law enforcement, fuel distribution interruptions, and communications blackouts(especially internet)are real possibilities. A crippled gov’t will not be up to emergencies and we may see Katrina-level FAIL in many places…And I haven’t even mentioned terrorist cell attacks(Hezbo cells now estimated in the several thousands)or the collapse of Mexico and a giant population shift of a foreign people across our border into the US.
Guns, ammo, food staples, water, fuel, generators, will all be better legal tender than the useless paper they are now fraudulently printing. Being prepared for emergency is always a good thing, but it may become a profitable thing as well.
Seeds, and garden truck, as well as meat items, milk and eggs will have a sharply increased value, and goats/chickens are easy to raise and feed.
March 5 2009 / 9:44 am
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…if money is pulled out of the stock market, where do you put it?
Wait for the temporary market rally to take its effect from the massive stimulus-cash injection. Gold & silver will briefly drop 10%, and that’s when you buy-in.
Once the markets fully respond to this massive governemnt inflation, the dollar will tank, sending precious metals soaring.
And you’ll have a big smile on your face knowing that you hard-earned money is safe.
March 5 2009 / 9:46 am
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Other things that will be better than legal tender: Cigarettes, liquor, coffees, sugar, flour, reloading supplies, diesel(can be stored for long periods). Oh, and medicine of every type from first aid to antibiotics to pain meds.
Where I live, in southwest NM, a cord of oak(4′x4′x8′)goes for $275 sold at the right time of year,a cord of juniper/desert cedar fetching over $200, and pellet stoves are popular here as well, and this a mild part of the country. Wood stoves sold as fast as supply allowed in some places this last year, and I expect more of the same in the future.
March 5 2009 / 6:51 pm
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I have gone John Galt. I own (no mortgage) a renewable energy ranch (powered by solar/wind with a back-up generator)a 4 season green house and will be entering the underground economy for the near future. I have a small retirement that will keep some money coming in to pay what few taxes I can’t eliminate. Anyone that doesn’t lower their tax profile has only themselves to blame
March 6 2009 / 3:08 am
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The catch to the Galt strategy is that it is the economic equivalent of a murder-suicide — if not the literal equivalent. Sure, if all the productive people went on strike, the government would collapse. But so would the entire economy, and we’d all be starving to death in homes with no heat or electricity. In the book, the productive people build a secret colony hidden away in the mountains where they start building a new, free society. In real life, I suppose you could build a colony where a few dozen people could hide out. But if it gets much bigger than that, the government will find you, arrest you, and confiscate your property. Maybe you could plan or hope that the government is too busy dealing with the food riots and the terrorists taking advantage of our problems to come look for you, and when a few hundred million people have died you can come out of hiding and take over.
I suppose there is some point where deliberately destroying the country in hopes of rebuilding on the ashes is the best that can be done. Pessimistic as I am, I think we’re a long way from there. The liberals won the last election by a few percentage points. Surely a more realistic strategy is to try to win back those few percentage points through public debate and persuasion. It would help a lot if the United States had a political party that actually believed in conservative principles.
March 6 2009 / 2:16 pm
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Solution to tax problems:
We need a new tax system. The new system will work like this: Every time Congress increases taxes 1%, the tax for members of Congress goes up by 2%. The same thing for tax reductions.
Incentives are the heart of economics.
March 6 2009 / 4:19 pm
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Jay,
Its not a murder suicide. Your premise is that government provides electricity, food and all of the rest of your basic needs. This is a false assumption. These are provided by people in trade. Its the government that regulates this trade and can cause its collapse.
Thats why the government that governs best governs least. Thoreau said a 160 years ago.
Jefferson maybe before and Thomas Paine also.
March 6 2009 / 6:29 pm
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Mike S:
No no! I guess I was unclear. I am not at all supposing that government supplies or even particularly helps in providing goods and services. I was responding to the idea of the “John Galt strategy”. Perhaps either you or I are misunderstanding what Miss Clothier and earlier posters meant by this, but I understood them to mean that, as in Ayn Rand’s book, the productive, enterprising people should refuse to work under socialistic policies that don’t allow them to profit from their efforts, and so drive the economy to collapse, and thus bring down the government. I am not suggesting that the economy would fail BECAUSE of the fall of the government, but rather that an essential component of the Galt plan is that those who initiate it deliberately cause the economy to fail, and the the failure of the economy causes the fall of the government.
I refer to this as a murder/suicide plot because the idea is to force the government to change its policies by deliberately destroying the economy. That is, you voluntarily destroy your own economic well-being in order to destroy the government. That’s a very extreme strategy. In extreme enough circumstances it might be called for, just like killing someone might be called for in extreme circumstances, like self-defense. But depressed as I am about our current government policies, I think there are plenty of things we could so short of deliberately plunging the entire population of the country into poverty.
March 7 2009 / 1:49 pm
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Cynthia – perfect imagery, right out of the history books.
“The economic meltdown is his equivalent to Hitler’s fire in the Reichstag, which he used to get control of a frightened Germany.”
March 7 2009 / 11:43 pm
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Mat, you got to MAN UP and SHOW UP!
Next Tea Party is TAX TIME, April 15th:
http://www.taxdayteaparty.com/
Get off the couch! Let’s roll!
March 10 2009 / 11:13 am
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It is to laugh. I saw a comment on a blog that said going John Galt is the right wing equivalent of “I’m moving to France”. Lots of bluster, no action. And stupid as hell.
April 4 2009 / 12:33 am
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I agree with Alamo – “Although Rand for the purposes of her story made Galt’s decision purposeful, and the “retraction” of talent and resources only among the “elite”, I believe the “Galt Effect” will occur organically.”
I doubt that Ayn Rand ever meant for people to actually try withdrawing their effort as a *political* move to force a change. Her book simply shows, in an imaginative metaphorical form, what actually does happen when government interferes with the economy and makes working hard and smart to improve one’s lot into a burden rather than a rewarding proposition.
Don’t worry, the people who are under-rewarded because of taxes and regulations WILL backpedal on the taxable income, because the burden is demotivating, and to do otherwise is to feel like a slave and a bloody fool.
I understand the impulse to want to speed up the disasterous course we’re on, get it over with, and get back on a constructive track. But what I hope for is that we can convince our fellow man – and this will be plenty of work but we’ve got to do it – that Obama is on the wrong track and that we have to change course BEFORE Obama winds up impoverishing the USA and inviting all the vultures and hyenas to pick our bones – such as our Islamist enemies.
Because if the USA is actually destroyed by our present course, we don’t know for sure where it will go from there. It could take far longer than we imagine for a recovery if we allow it to hit full bottom. None of us can read the future, but most of us and our kids will have to live in it.
My solution is to do what you must do (barring the initiation of force or fraud) to prosper as much as possible and keep your spirit alive. If that means keeping your income below the huge taxation level, do that. But if you find that making more money is still worth it regardless of taxes and regulations, fine. Just remember not to make yourself more of a victim than the govenment will. If you reach the point where making one more penny isn’t worth it, stop there. Let nature take its course.
But more importantly, keep refining your understanding of economics and the principles of liberty. Keep improving your ability to *communicate* what you know in a non-insulting, reasonable, informative way. Avoid making crackpot-sounding, out-of-context (to the reader) statements to blow off steam.
And make this effort all over the Internet, wherever you find someone bashing the free market or Objectivism, or cheering on the Obama regime. Keep it calm and don’t be baited by pettiness.
The purpose of what I’m suggesting is not to change the minds, necessarily, of those *posters* who attack free markets or who believe that it was lack of regulation that caused our present crisis. Write to address those readers who haven’t encountered the alternative view, thoughtfully expressed. Write to straighten out the *readers* who are getting their impressions of capitalism, Objectivism, and the causes of the crisis from people who don’t know what they’re talking about.
As to the Tea Parties, their usefulness is that they show the public and the politicians that Obama’s camp is not unopposed. There is a significant number of people who think he’s wrong, and a significant number who know that it wasn’t the free market who brought us low.
We’ve got to make the most of this crisis by creating our most intelligent educational campaign and bringing it to the public in as many clever, interesting, attention-arresting ways as we can. The TEa parties are just one way to do it.