Appendix C: The Galtification of America

I made a bumper sticker for my car that says, "John Galt for Congress." Of course, most Americans have not read enough to be offended or threatened or amused, but perhaps a couple have "Googled" the name to see what the bumper sticker means.

Maybe not.

If you have not read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, I'll wait here while you do. Don't dawdle.

Okay, now that we both understand the story and the character of John Galt, I'll continue.

When I talk to fellow conservatives who lament the pathetic state of our government and population, the notion of a Galt-like character to lead us to a bastion of capitalist practice becomes compelling. What a radical idea, that a person should work to the limit of his capabilities every day, and actually earn his food.

The bastion that Galt and his followers created in Atlas Shrugged is impractical, however. It's just not possible for any small group of people to withdraw from the rest and build an economically successful culture. A small culture would succumb to the black heart of Man. A wealthy culture would attract the rest of humanity like flies on steak, ultimately ruining all that was built.

However, that notion got me thinking about the post-crash world in Galt terms. I believe that America's days are numbered, economically. The Paraducers in Congress and the Presidency are spending money so fast that the Producers in America simply cannot keep up. They will spend until the entire system implodes. They are the parasites that kill their host. They suck, we bleed, and the days roll by.

But what happens after the crash? Let's say that the value of the dollar drops to the point that imports are too expensive to afford. China, Inc. loses its American market and suffers with two billion starving people. In a short time, the scope of the economy will contract from global to regional to local. No more bananas for your morning cereal.

Today there are people preparing for such an eventuality. Some think it will be caused by nuclear weapons detonations, some by a flu pandemic, and some by an economic collapse, but prepare they do. These people are collecting food, fuel, tools and supplies. Not only that, they are self-training to know how to survive the difficulties. These people are resourceful, clever, hard working and tenacious. They are not all gun toting militia nuts, but most are armed.

A year after the crash, the economy will have fractured into local groups which barter for their livelihood. Pick any square mile in the country. There will be one or two families who have proper supplies. Gasoline will be $10 per gallon, or more, if it can be purchased. These families will have some extra. Food will be very expensive, if it can be found, but these families will have enough for a year. Their gardens will be flush with produce, and they will have a supply of non-hybrid seeds to perpetuate their food supply. They will have the tools and means to use them. And the tools to protect themselves.

Everyone else in the square mile will be dependent upon those families. In the countryside, many people will adapt quickly. In the cities, there are multitudes without any real skills. There won't be any demand for lawyers or accountants. Graphic artists will be hard pressed to find work or food. Middle managers will suffer. People will leave cities in search of basic necessities.

The welfare state will finally have failed and the checks will stop being mailed. The mail will stop altogether. Food stamps will be worthless when food cannot be found.

What we will have is a John Galt in every square mile, surrounded by starving people with no real world skills. Ayn Rand's prophecy will have come true, but in ways more pervasive than anything she imagined. There will not be one John Galt, but millions!

Those John Galts will have the same values as the character from the novel. He will value work, innovation, creativity, and economic value. He will understand and live capitalism. He will exercise the utmost in compassion by requiring those he does business with to have the same values. He will shun the cheap, the shoddy, the lazy. And he will sleep peacefully.

These Galts will not be suppressed for they will be the engine of the struggling economy, and will be recognized as such.

Isn't it ironic that the Paraducers who are destroying the world's economy will ultimately produce a harvest of millions of Producers who will be more than a little reluctant to feed them? Isn't it ironic that the people left with the power in America will be exactly the type of people who first colonized this soil, hard working, confident and self-improving?

Do you think the millions of Galts will be eager to pay off America's debt to China?

I've already scoped out the other John Galts in my area. Have you?