'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

I found accord with this article in the Wall Street Journal named "Atlas Shrugged: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years" which was brought to my attention by the other most read blog on Panama happenings, Prima Panama Blog. Sam and I have both obviously practiced much of the "Objectivist" philosophy which has been best illustrated in the classic book "Atlas Shrugged".

While we all hope the best for our new American President elect starting next week, it so far seems like his ideas and programs, along with the soon to be EX President, are falling right into place with Ayn Rand's prophetical novels of the late 40s and early 50s. The plans for redistribution of wealth, the heavy use of public funds to bail out "chosen" public companies, the continued reliance on BIG government to solve huge crisis they themselves were significant participants in creating makes anyone who seriously read Atlas Shrugged shudder in their seat. I agree with most tenets of that article and was alluding to these same things in the first months of this blog such as my post on "A Is A". Maybe some people who didn't previously quite get it will get it now?

The nationalization of so many of our businesses and institutions, the continued socialist agenda of Congress and now the Executive office, the continued bailout of the "robber barons" with the funds of those who have been robbed of their jobs and tax contributions...are rewriting this scary story in a new modern version. This version is even scarier to me because without the might of the USA with it’s historically noble role and causes throughout the world, WHO is going to pick up the slack to protect the poor and downtrodden and keep the contemporary dictators and egalitarians from over running the rest of the world? What is the future of free enterprise and trade? What standards remain to measure wealth and prosperity if we have no realistic money standard and trillions of dollars of debt mean nothing to those running contemporary economies?

I ended 2008 and began 2009 with efforts to put my "positive" face and mind in motion. I am convinced that now like no other time in my life is the time to be productive and evangelize positive ideas and leadership. If some of US don’t lead, we will leave it to the dictators and false prophets to determine our fates...to pull us into false and improbable hope and/or faith. This is a time to be vigilant, realistic, demanding and focused...both within us and with our leaders. If we just duck, "they" will over run us.

What are the answers? Here are a few of mine anyways...

• Let the failures fail. Quit bailing out the losers, liars and "gamers" in our system.

• Get back to the basics of sound finance. Don't lend to those who are high risk or can't realistically pay back borrow themselves into oblivion.

• Let the chips fall first...then pick them up, carefully.

• The Fed should help renegotiate all the bad contracts between banks and buyers. This step should have been taken MONTHS ago before just bailing out the bad guys who offered these insane contracts to begin with.

• Make the USA competitive again by REDUCING taxes on foreign AND domestic business so they have incentive to stay and produce inside the USA. When this produces more jobs and income, the tax coffers will actually grow higher at lower rates. In addition, cut the pork spending in our government and make a balanced budget a constitutional amendment. The rest of us have to in order to stay alive.

• Give entitlements to the truly needy. Those on unemployment or on public support of some kind who are able bodied or minded should have to provide some public service or work for their support. No free rides to the healthy and able! There are a lot of things these people could do with their “unemployed” time besides eating and drinking. There should minimally be educational expectations for self improvement for those who cannot get work in their chosen or qualified field.

• Finally…I am currently changing my position on a couple issues. I think government MUST act on providing all minor CITIZENS an effective education and health care benefits. Children and elderly who are obviously not able to care for themselves should have free or inexpensive healthcare, including preventative checkups. To fund this government should simply send less overseas and show more reluctance to spend on undeclared wars abroad. Also, quit wasting money on the unwinnable wars against “drugs”, gaming and other moral issues that were never intended for our government to legislate about. Instead, spend those BILLIONS annually on the afore mentioned programs.

If we don’t reverse the current trends soon, I fear that America will start seeing a financial and brain drain unprecedented in the history of our young nation. The stakes are high and action is the only option at this point to keep the fabric or our country’s economy and integrity at an acceptable level.

If you want to understand what is going on in the current world…take some time to read the 52 year old story of “Atlas Shrugged”. It might be the new “Revelations”…