Apparently this site was mentioned on The Colbert Report? Really? I haven’t received any direct confirmation, although James Emms’ comment gives me pause… (UPDATE: okay, looks like evidence is strongly suggesting it did happen. Whaddya know! Thanks I guess for the mention, and let me say that I always enjoyed the “Even Steven/Stephen” bit on The Daily Show back when I used to watch it.)
Anyhow, assuming my G4 Mac Mini hasn’t crapped out again, welcome one and all. Enjoy your look around, and I hope some of the stuff I and my commenters have written are of interest to you (please keep the comment policy in mind, thanks). I’ve linked some of my favorite posts on the sidebar, and I kinda like this recent one too. Like I said in that post, “The culture is changing; what’s happening here [at this site] is both a symptom of the change, and an agent of it.” But change is tough, and I could use your ideas.
(Another Update: I guess that means the site will fall over when the show hits the west coast too. C’est la vie.)
Congrats for getting a plug on Colbert !
http://www.dailyrantsblog.com
Proof your on Colbert:
Going Glat by…. drumming up gigs?
Dept. of Self-Promotion: Need an intelligent Java/PHP/Rails/Flex/Ajax programmer for project/PT/FT work? Drop me a line.
How’s the job hunt going?
you dont watch the daily show or colbert report anymore?? you gotta be shitting ME!! Those are the two smartest shows on tv.
get back on it johnny.
I just came to your site after hearing it on Colbert. Of course, he gave a ridiculous and inaccurate summary of Atlas Shrugged.
Congratulations on the plug, although it was clear by the content of the segment in which you were mentioned that he had either never read the book, or is an idiot.
Completely on Colbert in fact he’s why I even know of this place, you were in his “the word” segment, the clip isn’t uploaded yet though.
Well time to look around a bit more.
yeah i picked up this book about three weeks ago becasue it was mentioned on another site as being more relavent now than ever. much like 1984 was when bush was in office. and im about half way through it, and thanks to colbert he summed up the last sixy pages in a 20 second synopsis. the story is interesting. but he did mention somehting about the irony of the site being dedicated to a character to gave up his weatlh to keep the poor from getting it for free, needing a job. anyway. you appear to be part of the current stream of consciousness. i think pepople are wondering what ‘the rich’ think about being asked/made to give up a share , to give up their wealth. its an interesting dynamic. i dont think anyone banked on them saying ‘ok well, then, i won’t work, then, you can’t take my money’.
Im surprised you didnt get a 1000 hits how does one go about getting on that show> any way please take some time to explain your site too me so i can understand! again why im here and second i was told about the book because it allegedly contained a illuminati formula.
The author was some rothchilds girlfriend etc,etc,… im not here to attack i respect every one just hit me up!
Reading through your site, I am unimpressed. I have been an objectivist for years. Your idea here is the typical misunderstanding…or at a minimum…misexecution of Rand’s philosophy (She herself had a hard time sticking to it).
Galt did not leave society to punish society as you are requesting people do. He left it to create his ideal society in which he (and others like him) would prosper from their own accomplishments. His one act to try change american society was his broadcast.
By asking others (and doing so yourself) to reduce work to teach a lesson to the rest of society is naive. What is the self-interest there? If you stop working, I doubt you will achieve much….though your site was on Colbert…which is the best you can hope for.
Try out freedomainradio.com for some very insightful libertarian philosophy. Stefan is very insightful and applies Rand’s philosophy well when appropriate.
I’m a fan of Ayn Rand and a fan of Colbert, and he certainly gave the novel an unfair treatment (hint: he’s a comedian). I do, however, seriously question the application of Rand’s philosophy under Obama’s (and Bush’s) government. They just did Galt’s job, or at least Djanneskjold’s. They’ve given trillions of tax dollars back to industry and corporate interests. What exactly would you propose going Galt against?
Yes, I heard of your blog from Colbert. You certainly aren’t alone, but by now you must realize it’s easier getting the attention of the masses than getting them to agree on anything. Dividing every persons loyalties into special interests from church to their children keeps voters divided and ineffectual. No one thrives more on the divide & conquer theory than the U.S. senate. I’m ashamed to be from one of the states that has had the same senator for 40 years. Is the corruption in our government irreversible? Of course it is with the same corrupt officials.
If you’re serious about “going John Galt,” I suggest you stop talking about it and JUST FUCKING DO IT! This shouldn’t be a problem for rich “producers.” Simply find a small island somewhere (or BUILD one–you’re the rich “producers,” aren’t you?) and move there. Oh, since this is such a sure-fire, can’t-fail idea, be sure to renounce your American citizenship right before you leave. Why would you want to ever come back to such a nation of loser “takers”?
One more suggestion: don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of the country.
Colbert sent me…
Colbert is in cahoots with your web-host. He’s going to make you pay them more money…
You really should watch his (and Jon Stewart’s) shows. Colbert has had bloggers on his show before…go for it.
Well, John, you wanted it to be public. =)
I guess life can still surprise me, Annie
!
What a nice birthday present for you!
You gotta link to the clip:
http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=221300
GM ‘went John Galt’ about 40 years ago.
Walker, I see where you’re going with that, but I disagree. Bush and Obama have stolen money from producers, those that create new wealth, and gave it to the incompetent fools that claim because they run inferior business plans that they deserve help. The takers of the bailout are like the factory owners that claimed a right to produce Rearden Metal because their products couldn’t compete.
i suggest the ceo’s who wish to live on an island where they aren’t exploited anymore take a look at the moochers they exploit and recognize that they are only where they are by taking.
those deplorable moochers’ sweat and backs are the foundation of those “producers’” success.
maybe read “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis, it is extremely more insightful
The problem with your argument, if I may, is that John Galt went “off the grid” in Atlas in response to a society run completely into the weeds of entitled socialism, and the US is not anywhere close to the state Rand depicted. Rand’s philosophy was based on her own experience as a young woman watching the Soviet Union literally take all wealth from anyone considered Productive and it was this fall into extremism that she warned against.
Any thought that the US is today in a situation similar to what she fictionalize in Atlas or what she lived in Russia is incorrect in scale by many orders of magnitude. A brief look into the Canadian system or the systems of most countries in Europe provides a stark comparison to the US system, and while I don’t generally approve of many of the socialist or socialist-leaning programs in these countries, none of them is currently seriously threatening to become either the reincarnation of the USSR or the instantiation of Atlas’ failed USA.
Finally, in “The Virtue of Selfishness”, Rand gives the only response to her critics I have ever seen (and now I have to go get a new copy so I can get the exact quote… ;~). To paraphrase, it goes says something like: “I’m not saying that one should never help someone in need. What I am saying is that if – by obligating those capable of helping you demotivate them to the point that they no are no longer capable – then no-one is going to be *able* to ever help anyone.” Rand was not an absolutist anarchist, she simply made the most cogent argument against the cynical socialist idea that you can make the world a better place by enslaving part of the population.
The current global financial cock-up is not the end of freedom or capitalism, it’s just a systemic screwup of monumental proportions that is a pain in the keister to address. While I have plenty of reservations with the solutions proposed/enacted, as an entrepreneur, capitalist and Rand-fan I’m no more worried about needing to go Galt now than I was in the past twenty years (and less than in the 70s ;~).
You seem like a cognizant critter, if you feel like joining our conversation on such things over at The Motley Moose you would be welcome. (http://motleymoose.com).
-best
-chris blask
forgive me, but i meant “Looking Backward” by Edward Bellamy
I got this site from watching Colbertt also.
Good deal, I like the idea of “going galt”.
I think the most patriotic thing to do is to refuse to pay the income tax. But that takes a lot of guts.
The next best thing to patriotic thing to do, and selfish enough, in accordance with Ayn Rand, would be just to reduce your level of productivity. The Obama admin wants to increase taxes on people earning more than $250k, and you earn $300k?
Just take a little time off and enjoy yourself and your family more and reduce your income to just under $250.
Wait a second…
You want to “Go Galt” when it’s the largest corporations in America that are the recipients of tax money? It seems its the American people who should do a Reverse Galt and refuse to buy the products made by these societal moochers…
Just take a little time off and enjoy yourself and your family more and reduce your income to just under $250.
You do realize how the income tax works, aren’t you? They are MARGINAL rates. Meaning, you pay taxes on the amount over a certain threshold. For example, if you make $249,999 you are taxed at whatever rate that is. If they raise taxes on incomes over 250K, you’ll pay that higher rate only on the amount OVER 250K. So if you make $300,000 the last 50K is taxed at the max, not ALL your income.
Just take a little time off and enjoy yourself and your family more and reduce your income to just under $250.
You do realize how the income tax works, aren’t you? They are MARGINAL rates. Meaning, you pay taxes on the amount over a certain threshold. For example, if you make $249,999 you are taxed at whatever rate that is. If they raise taxes on incomes over 250K, you’ll pay that higher rate only on the amount OVER 250K. So if you make $300,000 the last 50K is taxed at the max, not ALL your income.
Mike, you do realize simple math is beyond most of these people. They don’t understand that whether they make $250k or $251k, they’ll still pay the same amount of tax on the first $250k and then a different amount of tax on amounts exceeding that. Somehow, they’ve convinced themselves that if they make $300k, after tax they’d have LESS income than if they made $250k.
I liked this line from Cobert about your site
“It takes a brave man to call for a work slowdown. Particularly when his site prominently features an announcement that he’s looking for work.”
You sir, are the hero of the day. It’s not enough to just be a greedy sub-intellectual Rand zombie, you should be lazy too! A brilliant satire of modern conservatism. Thanks for the laughs!
Yup, your hypocrisy made for great jokes. A site about wealth producers going on strike from a blog with “Dept. of Self-Promotion: Need an intelligent Java/PHP/Rails/Flex/Ajax programmer for project/PT/FT work?” next to it.
I agree with you entirely. More leaders of industry and finance should “go Galt.” Then they could then no longer destroy our industrial base and decimate our financial markets. We would all be better off and save a lot of money in the bargain by not having to pay their outrageous compensation packages. If only Bernie Madoff had “gone Galt” a decade ago.
All you socialists on this site that “wealth producer” does not equal “rich” right?
So, if you run a business and have 5 employees, and you only make $59k after taxes, you are still a “wealth producer”
If you are in a bank or a farm, losing money, and you receive a government subsidy, you are still a “moocher” regardless of the fact that you are a millionaire.
“”“It takes a brave man to call for a work slowdown. Particularly when his site prominently features an announcement that he’s looking for work.””‘
I am unemployed right now. But I am also calling for wealth producers to “go Galt”, because I believe that would hurt the socialist intentions of my government. And anything that hurts the socialist intentions of my government increases the chance that I will eventually get a good job.
Socialism hurts the economy. It hurts the chances of the poor to become rich. Where socialism is done well it keeps the rich rich, and keeps the poor on happy welfare (Europe). Where it is done badly it keeps the poor very poor and unhappy (the 3rd world).
All that all these bailouts are doing is prolonging the government created recession. All taxes on the rich do at best is to prevent the less fortunate from becoming wealthy. At worst they make the wealthy poor also, and make it so the only privileged people are those that are politically connected.
What’s really funny about Ayn Rand is how she took the propaganda used by the Reds against the capitalists during the Russian civil war and substituted the ‘entrepreneur’ for the ‘worker’. It’s an obvious Neo-Formalist defamiliarization.
It makes my wonder if she was a card carrying communist on a deep subversion mission or only a fellow traveler introducing Red memes.
yeah, I’m watching the Colbert Report right now, he just did an entire section and mentioned this website, that’s why I’m here.
I’m always amazed at people’s inability to understand marginal tax rates. “Derrr…I need to earn less money, because if I earn more money I’ll have to pay more taxes on it!!!”
We call this “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Or “votin’ for Nader.”
Taxes done right can lead to prosperity for all. Done incorrectly you get this bastard economy of ours.
breif history of income taxes.
http://www.essortment.com/all/unitedstatesin_rmhj.htm
http://www.tax.org/museum/1901-1932.htm
Another visitor brought here from The Colbert Report. If sales of “Atlas Shrugged” really are going up and it’s not just part of the comedy routine, there should be some interesting dialogues opening up with new readers.
When I read Atlas Shrugged about twenty or so years ago I thought the question being asked was: What would happen to the world if all of the people with original thoughts were no longer participating in the world? What would happen if the original thinkers set up their own digs without non-free thinkers mucking up the works. Like I said, I read it many years ago and cannot remember how things worked out for the orig. thinkers. Guess I’ll have to read it again.
btw, Ellen, I cruised over from Colbert Report as well.
Original thinking does not have an income tax bracket.
You sir, are the hero of the day. It’s not enough to just be a greedy sub-intellectual Rand zombie, you should be lazy too! A brilliant satire of modern conservatism. Thanks for the laughs
Government and income taxes aren’t stopping anyone from achieving; just look how massive and “revered” our corporate culture is. If you think anything the government’s doing is stopping you from being successful, maybe you’re just incompetent. Outsourcing labor isn’t enough, you have to outsource your excuses, too?
and what’s with this assumption that monetary wealth is the ultimate measure of societal values?
Mother Theresa, what a fucking deadbeat. Only reason she spent all that time in slums is because she couldn’t afford to buy her own impoverished Indian.
Thank God we have rich innovators like Paris Hilton and Nicole Ricci offsetting the utter worthlessness of Moochers like Steve Reich and Pablo Picasso. More like National Endowment for the Looters!
We can’t edit so…
I think the reason so many of those “Going Galt” are unaware of marginal tax rates is because they’ve outsourced doing their taxes, or even knowing about taxes, to someone else.
Do those of you Going Galters realize that you won’t have the time for innovation and entrepreneurship when you’re cleaning out your own latrine, cooking your own food, filing your own taxes, taking your own trash to your own dump, and cycling to work? Your free time and ability to work in an office is the benefit of paying someone else to do your dirty work, these things don’t just happen.