“Going Galt” is going viral

As the possibility of an Obama presidency grew throughout the 2008 campaign, many people, who understand the power and potential of our free market system, were reminded of Ayn Rand's anti-collectivist novel "Atlas Shrugged" (1957) with John Galt as a main character (see also, From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years). "Going Galt" is a 'why bother' attitude in response to 'forced' sharing, particularly when one does not believe in the cause, or that the cause could be much better served in a different way. Very simply put, why work hard if your reward will be taken from you and used in such a way that you believe is imoral?

Michelle Malkin writes,

The phenomenon Dr. Helen Smith first diagnosed last fall has spread noticeably since our discussion of it at CPAC/CS2.0 last week and my column/blog posts/your comments throughout the past week.

The NYTimes (disparagingly, of course) picked up on it today. The Liberty Papers has a comprehensive round-up of recent blog coverage from all sides. And here’s an interview with Dr. Helen. Excerpt:

Smith was a little ahead of the curve of what has become an incredibly popular meme. Across the broad conservative movement, from members of Congress to activists to economists, Rand’s final, allegorical novel is being looked at with fresh eyes. According to the Atlas Society, a think tank that promotes and analyzes Rand’s work, sales of “Atlas Shrugged” have tripled since the presidential election. One congressman says that Rand wrote a “rulebook” that can guide conservatives through the age of Obama; another calls Obama’s policies something right out of the mind of Rand. One economist says that Rand’s fantasies have become reality. Smith is one of many activists citing Rand to explain their decisions to sell their stocks, or to explain why the president’s “demonization” of run-amok CEOs is aggravating the economic slowdown. The popular meme is giving critics of the president’s policies a way to explain why, they believe, it’s doomed to fail — because Rand predicted all of this…

…The activists who have latched onto “Atlas Shrugged” don’t spend as much time thinking about the heroic-capitalist side of the analogy. For Dr. Smith’s readers, like their counterparts writing in to libertarian blogs and protesting Obama at “tea parties, ” the novel is most useful for the concept of “going Galt.” “I do some consulting on the side and the taxation on that income is unbelievable,”wrote one reader to Michelle Malkin. “So, to heck with this. I’m ‘going Galt’ on my consulting.” “I’m considering moving to a small family farm in a foreign country,” wrote a reader to Smith, “and looking into the practical side of the issue right now. It will take a year or two of preparation, but might be feasible and even comfortable.”

Smith, who’s still mulling over ways that she can “go Galt,” sees a possibility for a moral stand. During the Iraq War, she read about a painter who’d painted less, reducing his income, in order to dodge taxes and thereby make sure he didn’t fund the war. “I’d go John Galt just to not pay for programs I don’t believe in,” said Smith. “If we’re opposed to socialistic concepts — if we know they don’t work — why should we pay to support them?”

(Cover: 1st Edition, 35th Anniversary)