Friday, April 12, 2013

Tea party/GOP giving us the nightmare of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"

            John Galt, the evil genius of Ayn Rands novel Atlas Shrugged, is alive and well roaming the halls of Congress. A figment of Rands fevered imagination, Galt continues to do serious damage through any number of assorted tea party/GOP extremists, like Rep. Paul Ryan, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and Rep. Eric Cantor. If, like most Americans, you've asked yourself how and why a radical minority of the GOP has refused to do business with the president, Democrats, and even members of their own party, no matter how dire the potential consequences for the country as a whole, the answer is simple: As latter-day John Galts, they are actually living out the plot of a work of fiction. Thats right! They are committed to using the same destructive tactic Galt did to bring the nation to its knees--to save it. They wont tell you thats what theyre doing: Its too crazy. But thats what it all boils down to.
            Rand idolizes Galt as the perfect hero: the ultimate capitalist, a rabid anti-socialist, a philosopher, inventor, leader, independent thinker, the consummate rebel against government and bureaucratic moochers who stand in the way of those who he believes really create and drive the economy. Surely, you can hear echoes of the rhetoric of the tea party/GOP. Now, you know where so much of it comes from. But that isnt the half of it.
            As the torturous pace of Rand's story unfolds (1168 pages in my paperback edition), it ultimately becomes clear that Galt isn't only Rands man" but her man "with a unique plan: "The Strike," the ultimate tactic for bringing about sweeping economic and social change, a revolution to take the country back for the 1 percent, in today's political rhetoric, from those he brands communist, collectivist, socialist leeches. To that end, Galt entices one after another of those he considers the engine-drivers of the economy, captains of industry, simply to follow his lead and stop producing. That way, those he marks as lazy lowlifes (Mitt Romney's 47 percent/Paul Ryan's 60 percent who are "takers not makers") will no longer enjoy what he considers their free ride at the expense of others.
            Eventually, Galt and his cabal retreat to a quasi-mystical, hidden valley. They watch with callous resolve as the country falls deeper and deeper into desperation. The economy collapses. It's a dream-come-true for the perpetrators--and so simple: Just say no; opt out; let things fall apart. Finally, when Galt gives the word, they return to the shambles they've precipitated, forever vindicated and presumably ready to claim the spoils of victory.
            Depending upon your literary and political preferences, Galts strike may sound brilliant, ridiculous, evil, or preposterous as social commentary and a prescription for change. But surely, you cant imagine anyone could possibly be so unglued as to want to implement such a deranged fantasy for real.
            Think again! Most of us have been living it without realizing it! It took the election of Barack Obamaand his perceived socialistic agendato coalesce a group around a full-fledged, real-life equivalent of a "strike," more sophisticated and under-the-radar than Galt's original but from the same playbook. A conspiracy of Galtans in Congress has gone beyond its efforts simply to indoctrinate young minds with the narcissistic ideology of "Atlas Shrugged." (Chief acolyte Cong. Paul Ryan, who would have been a heartbeat away from the presidency had Romney won, made his staffers read it.) Their forcing the nation into a manufactured debt-ceiling crisis, holding endless filibusters, relishing sequestration, doing anything and everything to stop administration initiatives, no matter how dire the consequences--all are John Galt 2.0: the way to win elections after losing them, to destroy the economy to recreate it. Its constitutional government replaced by the outrageous plot of a bad novel.
       I know that for some people my equating John Galts strike with tea party/GOP tactics will sound like conspiracy-theory run amok: I will be branded the kook; the real kooks will get off the hook. So, I urge everyone to slog through as many of the 1168 pages of "Atlas Shrugged" as they can endure until they see the light. Dont say I didnt warn you.#

      
       

No comments:

Post a Comment