The interpersonal dimension of Going John Galt

I’ve recently told my longest-term friend (since 2nd grade I think), the guy who was my best man, to go scratch. I realized he thinks he owns me. To him, I’m a means to his ends. Granted, he lets others handle the dirty work of enforcing my compliance, but with his full approval. I’m not sure what to call a personal relationship with someone like that, but I’m sure as hell not going to be calling it friendship any longer.

There’s an interpersonal dimension to the notion of going John Galt. In much the same way that producers continue funding a regime that actively works against them, hoping things hold together long enough that they can still enjoy their current lifestyle without inconvenient interruption, a similar dynamic is evident in our interpersonal relationships.  We fail our own independence for the sake of not rocking the boat, and we call our cowardice “civility”.  We not only betray ourselves, but we show those who have not yet made up their minds that our commitment to our principles goes no further than our internet debating.

This isn’t to suggest that only those who pass some loyalty oath can be your friend (or otherwise: the ad to the left shows that some folks take this even more seriously than I do ). Or that you need to purge from your life all whose actions are further empowering those who would harm you. It’s something to be approached with careful consideration. Does your friend in fact know how important your freedom is to you, or have you just assumed they understand? Do they understand the consequences of the freedom-inimical policies they support, or do they expect that these are just temporary inconveniences, and will be rolled-back eventually? 

We can all wish our friends knew better. But it can’t hurt to help them learn. You need to make the distinction between someone who hasn’t yet learned, and someone who won’t. The person who won’t has already given up on you, they just might not know it yet because you’ve hidden yourself from then.