"Going Galt": The Right's Cloward-Piven

It's rather ironic to hear the hear those on the right clamoring to "go Galt" now that President Obama has been re-elected. "Going Galt" is essentially doing everything you can to completely withdraw from the economy. But there's a catch.

A large number of people withdrawing from the economy will destroy the economy, and by extension the nation.

Ironic, of course, because just four years ago, led by the right's Chris Matthews, conspiracy kook Glenn Beck, the right was talking about how evil and un-American Obama was specifically because he (allegedly but not actually) supported something called the Cloward-Piven Strategy. What is the Cloward-Piven Strategy?

Deliberately destroying the economy to achieve a political agenda.

That's right. The "left" is evil and un-American for (allegedly, not actually) deliberately trying to destroy the U.S. economy, but the right is righteous and patriotic for doing the exact same thing.

 

Don't confuse the issue with facts. They can't handle facts.

 

Twisting reality by rewriting history is not your strong suit.

 

Going Galt is a survival strategy implemented by the industrialists in the novel. The theory goes something like this: If those who wish to prosper by the method of production and trade are forced to sacrifice everything they work for, then there's no point. Quitting becomes the act of last resort as the controls and taxes eat away at everything that everyone works for. There is no choice left for them. We haven't reached that stage as a nation but many individuals have and choose to withdraw their services in order to lighten their burden. Keep in mind that Rand herself never advised going Galt. The purpose of the novel was to portray ideal characters and to make a point (if you are able to see it.).

 

Which part of what I said is "rewriting history"?

 

A two party political system is by function and design a competition.


If one side decides to start using long term destructive, but short term profitable tactics, the other side has to start playing hardball too, or simply concede completely.


The Democrats Started with the Pandering and Cloward-Piven techniques, or we wouldn't be calling them the "Cloward-Piven" approach, based in the writings of a couple of 1960s Univeristy Leftist Radicals.


The Democrats also Started with the massive Voter Fraud Machinery. The Republicans, if they want any hope of ever winning another election, will also have to create a competing Voter Fraud Machine.


The Democrats have decided, long ago, to take the low road to personal political profit and power, and in a two party system, that means the other side will either join in the "Hardball" rules, or the country will become, like Cuba, Mexico, Argentina.... a corrupt ONE PARTY country.


Why are you still blaming the Republicans? You STARTED it!


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I'd like to point out that "going Galt" is pure fantasy. The only reason why Galtville was able to function was because Galt invented a magical, laws-of-physics-violating, handwavium-powered perpetual motion engine.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws

Anyone who has worked on maintaining diesel fuel field generators, and then seen a RTG thermal electric nuclear field generator working, would swear to you it IS magic.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator


I am not advocating the use of such tools here, I am simply stating that in the fictional story of Atlas Shrugged, the Author put in an element has been achieved over and over again throughout human history.


The first non-technical people to see Edison's Motion Pictures thought it was magic, and nick named him a "Wizard".


It should be noted that People of Genius and Production make such inventions, not welfare moochers or government Pandering Totalitarian Bureaucrats. ( That was kinda the whole point of the book! )

Who is John Galt?​

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let's be real here. few are going to halt.

 

Please tell me how many RTG's were invented without government involvement.

Galt's engine is pure fantasy. And that engine is the only reason Galtville could exist. The entire concept is bunk because without a magical machine providing infinite energy to power magical labor saving devices and automation, your rich people refuge would need to have poor people to do the work. And you can't run an Objectivist "utopia" is there is anyone lower than a total individualist plutocrat mogul in the society.

 

The reason going Galt doesn't work is that it destroys the country. Actually, that's how Europe got feudalism. The rich guys built huge castles and big walls and refused to pay taxes to Rome. Then there simply wasn't a Rome. Rome was going down either way, but the rich going galt was a bullet to the brainpan while the patient was dying of cancer. Late stage dying Rome is pretty much what we live now. Seriously, look it up -- The poor were outsourced in favor of forgein slaves, the taxes were high, welfare and bread and circuses to keep the peasents from revolting. Nothing like today of course, when we are doing the exact same things.

If people actually go Galt, follow them, so you can be the nobility of the new dark ages.

 

Feudal kings = fall of Rome = birth of modern Europe?

 

eventually, after what 1500 years. I'm sure the peasents loved it. you know, shoveling bovine droppings for a lord who treated you like a slave, the bubonic plague, the heretic burnings, the starvation.

 

Only if you believe government runs the economy.

 

The birth of modern Europe only occured after a thousand years of tyranny, rape, torture, murder, pogroms, theocracy, and scientific regression.

 

You're an idiot if you think the economy can run with no government.

 

Sounds like heaven to a Randian cultist. They are all closet neo-fuedalism supporters who would love to own some peasants and serfs that they could oppress while living high on the hog in their fortified mansions.

 

Well then, you are an idiot if you think government runs the economy. All government is supposed to do is regulate, or make regular by protecting us from monopoly, fraud, and illegal force. Unfortunately government is monopoly, has defrauded you into thinking it is more important for the economy than the millions of transactions made every day that make up the economy, and has instituted illegal force with the insurance mandate.

 

Who on the right are objectivists? LMAO

If you are calling actual libertarians and anarchists 'the right', you are way off base.

 

It is also supposed to regulate market failures like negative and positive externalities.

 

I sort of do agree with "going Galt". Seems like we should non-violently seek voluntary methods of trading regardless of government oppression. Trading drugs, avoiding taxes, whatever.

@Op - I don't think "wrecking the economy" is wrong when it's individuals deciding not to spend more. Do we have to spend money? How is this different to slavery?

 

I disagree that externalities are "market failures". That's called people deciding not to spend their money, but wanting to eat their cake too. How is this a justification for theft via taxation? Who knows.

 

Freedom also means the freedom to fail. Laws against monopoly are supposed to protect the market from market failures by not allowing any sector to get "too big to fail" along with "too big to compete against" so it is the regulation against market failures. What government has done the last 30 years is to ignore it's duty to regulate monopolies and now is monopoly and "too big to fail" and picks winners and losers in the market place due to its monopoly over the market.

 

When your exchange between you and another party in your economic trade provides a negative spillover onto another uninvolved party, you should be forced to pay for that.