Thoughts Aloud

In Atlas Shrugged, John Galt talked the leaders of production into joining him in a hidden place called Galt’s Gulch, where they could be free of government plunder.

We know that such a place is impractical, if not impossible, given current technology. In other words, an alternate society cannot simply hide in plain view via some electronic cloaking device, said device not yet being practical.

But, that does not mean that the leaders of production can’t organize some manner of “strike”. I believe it has already started. It is true that all of them are still running productive firms. Yet, they refuse to expand their operations – many having scaled down to a level of high productivity, using the fewest number of workers, such that they can remain profitable. And, what do they do with those profits? For many of them, the ones I consider to be almost on strike, the answer is nothing. That is, they just let the profits accumulate. No investments in expansion (after all, what for?), little funding for new innovation. Instead, they have tucked the money away are are just waiting. Possibly trying to out-wait the government, refusing to expand operations until the government comes to its senses and gets off their collective backs.

Here, I will stick out my neck and hazard a prediction: if (when) Obama is re-elected, the administration will come up with some scheme whereby they can raid the accounts of those business entities that are accumulating (hoarding?) cash. If (when) that starts, we may see it develop into a real strike where highly productive businesses simply shut down in protest. If that happens, will the crony-capitalist businesses be able to take up the slack and keep the economy running? Not a chance.

WTP have scant chance to defeat the monster in open battle. But, never forget that monsters have enormous appetites, thus are easy to starve to death. I am suggesting that is exactly what we should be trying to do – starve the monster, if not to death, at least into submission.

Maybe this is a daydream – but, maybe daydreams come true.

Think about it.

Troy L Robinson