Imagine creating a pool of funds to support striking entrepreneurs: they could bid competitively for portions of the fund, saying how much production they’d be willing to curtail and for how long. The funds would then be awarded in whatever fashion would yield the greatest overall negative impact on productivity. The winners would get the cash to do anything frivolous and non-business-related they wanted to.
Imagine an actual dues-supported union, where a predetermined set of criteria would be used to trigger strikes by employers, and the strikers would be supported during the strike through a strike fund. When the producers are made to pay for the privilege of being productive, we could pay them to not be productive.
Imagine convincing a manufacturer to shutter her plant for half a year to get really good at her chip shot.
This is all off the cuff stuff, but I’m feeling more and more confident that there are lots of ways to approach our problem; lots of ways to put our resources and energies where our mouths are, in the service of ourselves and our fellow producers, rather than continuing to fuel the machine that’s grinding us down.
Supporting people to do nothing won’t work. In falls into the same problems that occur when the government does the same thing: it attracts lazy people who would not otherwise be productive anyway. For instance, I’m sure there are a lot of execs at AIG and Citigroup that would love to be paid to not produce right now.
In Atlas Shrugged, “Going John Galt” worked because the producers actually had to cut themselves off from the main economy. They weren’t subsidized to do nothing. They simply had a parallel economy.
Well, sorta. You know… forget it. Like I said, these were off the cuff
. The first idea was better anyway. (My natural tendency to argue is driving me to defend the idea, but I myself have greater reservations are about the centralization of authority involved in such a formalized union.)
How about investing a small amount in late fees and penalties for a coordinated quarterly tax “holiday” as a warning? It is legal and it would only take two quarters to illustrate the concept to our “reps”.
Also- support is building for state sovereignty movements, repealing unconstitutional mandates and taxes from the federal govt. See Tenn.’s recent action here:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/02/19/tennessee-sovereignty-resolution/
You’re getting closer to what I want. But what I want is nothing less than the utter collapse of the world’s so-called “free economy” and its boosters, to be replaced by a truly free market. Here’s a few more ideas:
Go off federal scrip. The current fiat currency is worthless anyway, as world businessfolks are learning more every day.. There’s a movement here in the Lehigh Valley to create a local currency, and this has been tried (and it succeeded) elsewhere, bit it’s still fiat, paper, ultimately worthless. A well-supported circle of business leaders who deal only in this parallel, commodity-based currency would work, at least until the federals outlaw non-federal currency. But this would only work if we:
Only deal with other Objectivists. The creation of a “Galt Stamp” certifying firms as Objectivist would ensure that any wealth created goes only to those who create it. By not dealing with concerns that kowtow to illegal federal mandates, or what I like to call the Mr. Mowens, it would strip the government of much of its power by denying it access to true wealth.
Restore state sovereignty. Federal funds are being used as a bludgeon against cash-starved states. By convincing our respective state governments to not accept any federal loans or grants, to find the cash they need on their own or drop whatever they’re trying to convince themselves is necessary, it will knock more teeth out of the leeches’ mouths. A nice upshot of this would be less need for cash in Washington to dole out, and thus lower federal taxes. This would be a benefit to everyone in the States. But this issue and others like it have many complexities that need to be explored before a concerted effort would make any difference. We need to be smart about this.
There’s many more where these came from.
In all honesty and seriousness, the only reason I’m here injecting ideas is that I don’t relish the idea of living by myself in the middle of a Northwest forest or some barely arable Southwest desert, growing and finding and making everything I need to survive, like food, rope, gunpowder, and nail clippers. But that’s the direction in which I am headed. This is the first group of people I have come across who could accomplish what I need. I am still of the opinion that current human society is too broken to be of use to me: a barely-living chimaera of productive effort and altruistic ideals, hating itself but not daring to admit to itself that it wants to die.
I like high heels, pretty pink finger- and toe-nails, video games, steak, and going to the bar with friends for a few drinks. These are my values, but I will gladly pay them as the cost to gain my highest value: my own freedom. This is what each of you want as well, or you wouldn’t be here. And that fact alone is what draws me here. If society collapses, or if I abandon it to its fate and live my life in solitude, I will lose more than just those simple luxuries. I will lose the support framework for my entire lifestyle, whereafter I will have to build a new lifestyle or perish in the attempt. But how does that old saying go? Oh yeah: Live Free or Die.