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Atlas don't give up now babe!

Written by Subject: Economy - Economics USA
OK so the latest thing is "going Galt"? Rich entrepreneurs and self-made people all over America supposedly refusing to make money as a voluntary means of non-compliance with the socialist system? Yes and I've heard Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged" has been flying off the shelves lately which might have sparked this latest fanciful idea.

The independently wealthy might easily pick up their heels and glide, but these paragons of working values might have work that they do indeed do for a living. And without one form of work, one must find another. In other words, the need to eat is not a philosophical decision.

Rand dealt with this little literary dilemma by endowing her characters, including Galt, with a host of very manual and practical skills. Unless I'm mistaken and the neo-Galtians truly desire to live under bridges and homeless shelters, these skills will need some cultivation. It would be an example of a literary issue becoming literal in a big hurry. Tragically, a life spent in boarding school does not prepare one for a life living by one's hands. Such things take time just like medical school did.

A landscaper buddy of mine recently described loosing an account, a guy with a huge-ass lawn and all the trimmings. The guy went out and bought the biggest lawn tractor at the shop with all the attachments, I guess figuring he'd save money. "Know how many years of my service this guy just spent?" my buddy asks me. Man I dunno. Probably a few. So now Mr. Big Lawn can spend 15 hours out of his busy week saving himself $20 per hour. Perhaps he can go into competition with his former landscaper. He sounds equipped.

Luckily, doctors are always in demand and can fit into a barter economy quite easily. Lawyers not so much. You financial people have no useful skill outside of your world whatsoever so I regard you folks as truly at-risk. But whatever the case, whatever you are doing now, don't give it up without a solid plan-b.

Atlas babe, hang in there. You drop that thing it could land right on your toe.

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