Going Galt!

[Ed Hudgins]

Going Galt!!

"Tea parties." "Going Galt." You've probably seen a growing number of references to these in the media, online, and on signs at rallies reacting to new government spending and controls.

The Boston Tea Party was a rebellion against excessive government. Today's "tea parties" say "no" to spending without limit and the government takeover of our lives.

"Going Galt!" If you've read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, you appreciate the parallels between today's disintegrating world and the events depicted in that prophetic novel. Atlas Shrugged is the story ofhow productive people went on strike, withdrawing their services in protest against a society that damned them for being productive and expropriated the fruits of their labor.

The ideas in Atlas Shrugged can be powerful moral weapons to roll back the forces of repression and irrationality. The Atlas Society is your premier source for information on those ideas. We've compiled this page to help you understand the whole "Going Galt" phenomenon.

What is "Going Galt?"

• "Going Galt" doesn't simply mean getting angry. That would be "Going Postal." It means having righteous indignation at the injustice of a political system that bails out individuals and institutions for irresponsible behavior and at the expense of those like you who prosper through hard work and personal responsibly.
  

• "Going Galt" means asking in the face of new taxes and government controls, "Why work at all?" "For whom am I working?" "Am I a slave?"
  

• "Going Galt" means recognizing that you're being punished not for your vices but for your virtues.
  

• "Going Galt" means recognizing that you have a moral right to your own life, the pursuit of your own happiness, and thus to the rewards you've earned with your labor.
  

• "Going Galt" means recognizing that you deserve praise and honor for your achievements rather than damnation as "exploiters."
  

• "Going Galt" means recognizing that you do not need to justify your life or wealth to your neighbors, "society," or politicians, or bureaucrats. They're yours, period!
  

• "Going Galt" means recognizing that the needs of others do not give them a claim to your time, effort, and achievements.
  

• "Going Galt" means shrugging off unearned guilt, refusing to support your own destroyers, refusing to give them what Ayn Rand termed "the sanction of the victim." It means taking the moral high ground by explicitly rejecting as evil the premise of "self-sacrifice" that they sell to you as a virtue— in fact "self-sacrifice" is an invitation to suicide.
  

Tools for Fighting Back!

We at The Atlas Society want you to fight back, to express both your moral outrage and your hopes for a better future, and to be more effective by helping us to help you.

On our website you will find a wealth of information and insight about Atlas Shrugged. You'll find clear explanations of Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, by expert writers. You'll find an arsenal of intellectual ammunition needed to prevail against the assault on your freedom. And we're devoting all our time and attention to a new website that, like cruise missiles, will better delivery moral bombs to the targets of envy and resentment.

Atlas Shrugged is still incredibly popular, five decades after its publication, because it offers a dramatic moral defense of the right to individuals live for their own sakes and a vision of a benevolent society based in reason, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Atlas Shrugged at 50: a Tribute in The New Individualist

All about Atlas Shrugged: expert analysis, plot synopses, and more

The revolt against taxes: collected Atlas Society commentary

Is Atlas Shrugging today? Hard-hitting commentary from The Atlas Society

Edward Hudgins, "Ragnar Shrugged."

Edward Hudgins, "Atlas Chased."

Edward Hudgins, "Atlas Forced into Early Retirement."

Thor Halvorssen, "Is John Galt Venezuelan?"

The "Going Galt" Phenomenon

Helen Smith got it all started with this post.

Megan McArdle took note in The Atlantic online: "Atlas raised his Eyebrows"

Chris Sullentrop surveyed the "Going Galt" scene for the New York Times.

"Going Galt" means a Return to Revolution in The New Individualist, Spring 2009 issue.

David N. Mayer, "Completing the American Revolution"

William R Thomas, "Individual Rights: The Objectivist View"

David Kelley, "The Fourth Revolution"

[Alfonso Jones]

Great post, as usual, Ed.

Bill P

[Chris Grieb]

Ed; Bill has beat me to it. Great post!

[Judith]

You know, every time I think things can't possibly get any worse in the world, I read something new and find a new low. BO's antics are bad enough -- but I followed the links in Ed's article and found out about the European and UN attempts at tax harmonization.

Makes me glad I don't have children. Only thing is, the world might well crash while I'm still alive. :-(

[Ed Hudgins]

Thanks Bill and Chris! Glad you like our latest. I hope it gets picked up by activitists and used in Tea Parties.

Judith - The more you dig the more depressing stuff you find. I think freedom is more endangered today that at any time in recent generations. You'll see more of that in my future pieces. And believe me, I get as depressed and frustrated as anyone.

Humans are capable of the basest degeneracy. And as Rand shows, sometimes we're not being destroyed by some grand, formidable foe but, rather, by a bunch of little insects—my words, not her. (Judith, listen in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben his musical representation of his critics that comes right after the rousing opening of that piece!)

But to live as humans means to seek the good, the true, and the beautiful. We as Objectivists must highlight dangers and attempt to provoke the just anger of our fellows to oppose their own enslavement. But we also must hold out the vision of what life can be and should be, for those possibilities are why we want and deserve freedom in the first place.

Remember in the Fountainhead, when Wynand gives Roark the commission for the Wynand building, Wynand says of it: "The last achievement of man on earth before mankind destroys itself."

Roark replies: "Mankind will never destroy itself, Mr. Wynand. Nor should it think of itself as destroyed. Not as long as it does things such as this."

And that was written when the Nazis and the Communists were major forces in the world.

And I believe it was Nathaniel Branden who said at the end of his Objectivism course that individuals shouldn't die for their ideals but live for them.

Remember that it was during the Peloponnesian War, when Athens was in a political mess that would ultimately lead to its defeat by Sparta, that Socrates taught and the great Greek dramatists wrote.

[galtgulch]

Thanks Bill and Chris! Glad you like our latest. I hope it gets picked up by activitists and used in Tea Parties.

Judith - The more you dig the more depressing stuff you find. I think freedom is more endangered today that at any time in recent generations. You'll see more of that in my future pieces. And believe me, I get as depressed and frustrated as anyone.

Humans are capable of the basest degeneracy. And as Rand shows, sometimes we're not being destroyed by some grand, formidable foe but, rather, by a bunch of little insects—my words, not her. (Judith, listen in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben his musical representation of his critics that comes right after the rousing opening of that piece!)

But to live as humans means to seek the good, the true, and the beautiful. We as Objectivists must highlight dangers and attempt to provoke the just anger of our fellows to oppose their own enslavement. But we also must hold out the vision of what life can be and should be, for those possibilities are why we want and deserve freedom in the first place.

Remember in the Fountainhead, when Wynand gives Roark the commission for the Wynand building, Wynand says of it: "The last achievement of man on earth before mankind destroys itself."

Roark replies: "Mankind will never destroy itself, Mr. Wynand. Nor should it think of itself as destroyed. Not as long as it does things such as this."

And that was written when the Nazis and the Communists were major forces in the world.

And I believe it was Nathaniel Branden who said at the end of his Objectivism course that individuals shouldn't die for their ideals but live for them.

Remember that it was during the Peloponnesian War, when Athens was in a political mess that would ultimately lead to its defeat by Sparta, that Socrates taught and the great Greek dramatists wrote.

Ed, et al,

Those whom we perceive to be enslaving us feel they are justified, sleep nights, consider they are doing the right things to make this a better world for those in need.

So they persist in their willingness to practice human sacrifice and enslavement in all its various forms throughout history, in order for it to rain, or for the sun to come up, or for the benefit of the proletariat or the welfare mother, to feed lunch to starving children elsewhere in the world, or to bail out banks, insurance and automobile companies.

Just under the radar the pro freedom movement exists as never before with more accurate intellectual ammunition than the Founders had in their day and there is always a new younger generation coming up who might yet hear a different dialog than has ever been heard.

We know there are hard core mystics, altruists and collectivists who are not open to listening to reason.

But we have reason and reality on our side and our voice will be heard for a change.

www.campaignforliberty.com 14Apr 6PM 142976; 15Apr 6PM 144,633; 16Apr 6AM 145171, 11PM 145855

I am not saying that these 142976 are necessarily the ones who will save the world the way we think it ought to be saved. Many if not all of them might already, no doubt, be infected with the mistaken ideas of our mortal enemies. But they are banding together to restore the Constitution and individual liberty as they understand it. They surely have mixed premises but I expect all or almost all of them are open to listening to reason especially from someone who has been working with them in this cause. That is why I think it is a good idea for Objectivists to involve themselves in this Campaign For Liberty.

They are not alien the way advocates of government are. They are not like those who proudly describe themselves as socialists who misconstrue Article 1 Section 8, last paragraph, to read that the Congress may do anything that is "necessary and proper" to implement the socialist agenda and platform. I recently had the displeasure to work with such a thug for a short time.

I doubt that we would find any like him among those who join the Campaign For Liberty.

The C4L members will be at many of the Tea party protests handing out C4L flyers. I will expect a jump in membership to follow.

It will be easier to reach 20 million once we have reached 10 million, and easier to reach 10M once we reach 5M. We are building up to the first million now. Remember Ron Paul had 1.24M votes nationwide in the primaries. Doable!

"Each get one! " might become our battle cry. Seeking like minded individuals.

Truly we are involved in an historic endeavor to enlighten our fellows who will share our vision and create the world we know to be compatible with human nature and the best within us.

gulch

Edited April 17, 2009 by galtgulch

[Chris Grieb]

Gulch; I asked before what would you and Ron Paul do about pirates. I'm waiting for the answer.

I am not holding my breath.

[Alfonso Jones]

Gulch; I asked before what would you and Ron Paul do about pirates. I'm waiting for the answer.

I am not holding my breath.

Good luck. I suspect that Ron Paul would have decommissioned the Navy and withdrawn all our bases to within the continental USA, with the result that our sailing ships were bereft of defense.

Bill P

[tjohnson]

So they persist in their willingness to practice human sacrifice and enslavement in all its various forms throughout history, in order for it to rain, or for the sun to come up, or for the benefit of the proletariat or the welfare mother, to feed lunch to starving children elsewhere in the world, or to bail out banks, insurance and automobile companies.

I don't think the US administrators bailed out some banks etc. for altruistic motives, I believe it was to protect their own asses. If the banking system fails then the people who stand to lose the most are the people with wealth on paper (or in computers these days).

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Gulch; I asked before what would you and Ron Paul do about pirates. I'm waiting for the answer.

I am not holding my breath.

Good luck. I suspect that Ron Paul would have decommissioned the Navy and withdrawn all our bases to within the continental USA, with the result that our sailing ships were bereft of defense.

Bill P

Well there are other options. See this: Thousands of dolphins block Somali pirates

(Sorry Gulch, I couldn't resist...)

Michael

[Selene]

From today's DC Tea Party:

http://spectator.org/assets/mc/IMG_0638.jpg

and are these folks a different way to achieve this end?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-...POE=click-refer

Adam

[Selene]

Gulch:

I take my hat off to you. Brilliant man on the Constitution - I did not know this.

Does Blackwater ring a bell? Or if any of you have kept track of this years 24, I watch it on the internet on hulu.com there is that type of company that kinda goes rouge.

"Mr. Paul has pointed out a Constitutional way that we used in the past.

Letters of Marque, of course.

Article I, Section 8 (Powers of Congress): “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water”

Congressman Paul explained the use of Letters of Marque and Reprisal on the floor of Congress after September 11, 2001:

Authority to grant letters of marque and reprisal are provided for in the Constitution as a means of allowing Congress to deal with aggressive actions where a formal declaration of war against a foreign power is problematic, Originally intended to deal with piracy, letters of marque and reprisal represent an appropriate response to the piracy of the twentieth century: hijacking terrorism.

Naturally you won’t hear Obama or the so-called “leadership” in Congress mentioning this."

I am IMPRESSED.

Adam

Edited April 15, 2009 by Selene

[Ed Hudgins]

Me speaking at the Tea Party in Washington, D.C. in front of Treasury and the White House. It was pouring down raining and cold and yet there were at least 1,000, probably more people there. These went on across the country.

[Judith]

Judith - The more you dig the more depressing stuff you find. I think freedom is more endangered today that at any time in recent generations. You'll see more of that in my future pieces. And believe me, I get as depressed and frustrated as anyone.

Humans are capable of the basest degeneracy. And as Rand shows, sometimes we're not being destroyed by some grand, formidable foe but, rather, by a bunch of little insects—my words, not her. (Judith, listen in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben his musical representation of his critics that comes right after the rousing opening of that piece!)

But to live as humans means to seek the good, the true, and the beautiful. We as Objectivists must highlight dangers and attempt to provoke the just anger of our fellows to oppose their own enslavement. But we also must hold out the vision of what life can be and should be, for those possibilities are why we want and deserve freedom in the first place.

Remember in the Fountainhead, when Wynand gives Roark the commission for the Wynand building, Wynand says of it: "The last achievement of man on earth before mankind destroys itself."

Roark replies: "Mankind will never destroy itself, Mr. Wynand. Nor should it think of itself as destroyed. Not as long as it does things such as this."

And that was written when the Nazis and the Communists were major forces in the world.

And I believe it was Nathaniel Branden who said at the end of his Objectivism course that individuals shouldn't die for their ideals but live for them.

Remember that it was during the Peloponnesian War, when Athens was in a political mess that would ultimately lead to its defeat by Sparta, that Socrates taught and the great Greek dramatists wrote.

Thanks, Ed. I needed that.

[Alfonso Jones]

Thanks Bill and Chris! Glad you like our latest. I hope it gets picked up by activitists and used in Tea Parties.

Judith - The more you dig the more depressing stuff you find. I think freedom is more endangered today that at any time in recent generations. You'll see more of that in my future pieces. And believe me, I get as depressed and frustrated as anyone.

Humans are capable of the basest degeneracy. And as Rand shows, sometimes we're not being destroyed by some grand, formidable foe but, rather, by a bunch of little insects—my words, not her. (Judith, listen in Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben his musical representation of his critics that comes right after the rousing opening of that piece!)

But to live as humans means to seek the good, the true, and the beautiful. We as Objectivists must highlight dangers and attempt to provoke the just anger of our fellows to oppose their own enslavement. But we also must hold out the vision of what life can be and should be, for those possibilities are why we want and deserve freedom in the first place.

Remember in the Fountainhead, when Wynand gives Roark the commission for the Wynand building, Wynand says of it: "The last achievement of man on earth before mankind destroys itself."

Roark replies: "Mankind will never destroy itself, Mr. Wynand. Nor should it think of itself as destroyed. Not as long as it does things such as this."

And that was written when the Nazis and the Communists were major forces in the world.

And I believe it was Nathaniel Branden who said at the end of his Objectivism course that individuals shouldn't die for their ideals but live for them.

Remember that it was during the Peloponnesian War, when Athens was in a political mess that would ultimately lead to its defeat by Sparta, that Socrates taught and the great Greek dramatists wrote.

Thanks for the encouraging words, Ed.

Bill P

[Chris Grieb]

Ed; Good job!

As the bright sun pours into my room I wish the DC Tea Party were today.

[Ed Hudgins]

[Our latest email/website add!]

Videos!

*On April 15, 2009 Ed Hudgins braved pouring rain and a heckler to speak to a crowd of well over 1,000--some say it was closer to 2,000--in front of the Treasury and White House at the

, to explain what it is to "Go Galt!"

*On April 14, 2009 Hudgins made brief remarks at a Tax Day

at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., organized by Americans for Tax Reform, also to explain "Going Galt!"

Photo: Hudgins at Press Club. Photo: Hudgins at D.C.Tea Party

[Rich Engle]

Well, that's definitely a something. Nice work Ed!

rde

Wow, Ed's got some back to his baby.

[Selene]

Good job Ed.

Smooth comfortable delivery and as you guys know, I think the sanction of the victim premise that she launched frees the individual to see that the statist does desire death.

I found that to be completely understandable and she allowed me to see people committing psychological suicide and becoming one of the living dead altruist.

Nathaniel's Breaking Free not only confirmed it for me but allowed me to start writing poetry which I kinda thought was not in my ken, but it was.

Adam