Atlas Shrugged - Goin' Galt. If you haven't read the book, then watch the movie. Now is the time.

This should be required reading, along with Orwell's 1984.

Read both several times. Get your copies before they're banned.

I wasn't paying attention to much during that time. What's the deal with Pepperidge Farm?
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WE CHECKED OUT ALMOST 15 YEARS AGO.

SHUT DOWN A VERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS THAT EMPLOYED PEOPLE, PAID TAXES, PROVIDED SERVICES AND WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC ENGINE TO THE COMMUNITY. WE SAW THAT THE HARDER WE WORKED AND THE MORE WE MADE THE MORE THE GOVERNMENT TOOK AND INTERFERED WITH WHAT WE DID.

SO WE BAILED.

BOUGHT A RUN DOWN FARM FAR AWAY FROM THE URBAN/SUBURBAN CENTERS AND OVER TIME TAUGHT OURSELVES EVERYTHING WE NEEDED TO BECOME SELF SUFFICIENT. RAISED OUR KIDS HERE, FIT INTO A NEW COMMUNITY, DISENGAGED FROM POP CULTURE AND THE CONSUMER MINDSET, PICKED UP ALL KINDS OF NEW SKILLS AND DISCOVERED WHAT LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT. WE NOW HAVE HERDS OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS AND SWINE, FLOCKS OF CHICKENS, TURKEYS AND DUCKS, GARDENS AND ORCHARDS, A SUGARHOUSE, GREENHOUSES, BARNS AND SHEDS, WELLS AND PONDS, WOODLOTS AND PASTURES.

WE DON'T EARN EVEN A SMALL FRACTION OF WHAT WE ONCE MADE BUT WE'RE A THOUSAND TIMES HAPPIER, WE GET TO SPEND OUR TIME WITH EACH OTHER AND OUR FRIENDS, PURSUE WHATEVER INTERESTS US WHENEVER WE LIKE AND HAVE THE RESPECT OF OUR NEIGHBORS.

I HAD A YOUNG MAN COME UP TO THE FARM YESTERDAY- HE OWNS A NICE SPOT ON THE NEXT MOUNTAIN OVER AND HE AND HIS WIFE LIVE IN A TINY CABIN THEY BUILT THEMSELVES. THEY ARE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD AND JUST GETTING STARTED ON BEING HOMESTEADERS. I WISH I COULD TELL YOU HOW GRATIFYING IT IS TO SEE YOUNGER PEOPLE TURNING AWAY FROM OUR DECADENT AND DECLINING CULTURE AND LOOKING FOR A PATH BACK TO WHAT'S TRULY VALUABLE AND REWARDING IN LIFE.

IF ANY OF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT IT LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT IT IS BOTH EASIER AND MORE SATISFYING THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE. WE WERE JUST AS TRAPPED IN OUR OLD LIFESTYLE AS ANYONE COULD BE, BUT WE KNEW THAT SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG WITH THE WAY THINGS WERE GOING AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO CONTRIBUTE EITHER OUR TIME OR OUR RESOURCES TO SOMETHING THAT WASN'T GOOD FOR US.

YOU CAN DO IT TOO.

WE CHECKED OUT ALMOST 15 YEARS AGO.

SHUT DOWN A VERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS THAT EMPLOYED PEOPLE, PAID TAXES, PROVIDED SERVICES AND WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC ENGINE TO THE COMMUNITY. WE SAW THAT THE HARDER WE WORKED AND THE MORE WE MADE THE MORE THE GOVERNMENT TOOK AND INTERFERED WITH WHAT WE DID.

SO WE BAILED.

BOUGHT A RUN DOWN FARM FAR AWAY FROM THE URBAN/SUBURBAN CENTERS AND OVER TIME TAUGHT OURSELVES EVERYTHING WE NEEDED TO BECOME SELF SUFFICIENT. RAISED OUR KIDS HERE, FIT INTO A NEW COMMUNITY, DISENGAGED FROM POP CULTURE AND THE CONSUMER MINDSET, PICKED UP ALL KINDS OF NEW SKILLS AND DISCOVERED WHAT LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT. WE NOW HAVE HERDS OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS AND SWINE, FLOCKS OF CHICKENS, TURKEYS AND DUCKS, GARDENS AND ORCHARDS, A SUGARHOUSE, GREENHOUSES, BARNS AND SHEDS, WELLS AND PONDS, WOODLOTS AND PASTURES.

WE DON'T EARN EVEN A SMALL FRACTION OF WHAT WE ONCE MADE BUT WE'RE A THOUSAND TIMES HAPPIER, WE GET TO SPEND OUR TIME WITH EACH OTHER AND OUR FRIENDS, PURSUE WHATEVER INTERESTS US WHENEVER WE LIKE AND HAVE THE RESPECT OF OUR NEIGHBORS.

I HAD A YOUNG MAN COME UP TO THE FARM YESTERDAY- HE OWNS A NICE SPOT ON THE NEXT MOUNTAIN OVER AND HE AND HIS WIFE LIVE IN A TINY CABIN THEY BUILT THEMSELVES. THEY ARE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD AND JUST GETTING STARTED ON BEING HOMESTEADERS. I WISH I COULD TELL YOU HOW GRATIFYING IT IS TO SEE YOUNGER PEOPLE TURNING AWAY FROM OUR DECADENT AND DECLINING CULTURE AND LOOKING FOR A PATH BACK TO WHAT'S TRULY VALUABLE AND REWARDING IN LIFE.

IF ANY OF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT IT LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT IT IS BOTH EASIER AND MORE SATISFYING THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE. WE WERE JUST AS TRAPPED IN OUR OLD LIFESTYLE AS ANYONE COULD BE, BUT WE KNEW THAT SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG WITH THE WAY THINGS WERE GOING AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO CONTRIBUTE EITHER OUR TIME OR OUR RESOURCES TO SOMETHING THAT WASN'T GOOD FOR US.

YOU CAN DO IT TOO.

This should be required reading, along with Orwell's 1984.

Read both several times. Get your copies before they're banned.

Oh ffs. Us it 2010 again?

Nothing has done more to fuck this country besides Donald Trump than the gawd dang book and the stupid bitch narcissist that wrote it.

We live in a civil society. Fucking Objectivism was foisted on us by a Russian. Most likely a subversive,working to undermine democracy.

Because, at its core, Objectivism is unfeeling, it causes hyper individualism and it is unyielding, all of which degrade the common good and civil society.

In sum, the key principles of Objectivism are: Reality is an absolute, reason is man's only means of knowledge, man has free will (the choice to think or not), self-interest is moral, individual rights are absolute, capitalism is moral, and good art is crucial to good living

I'd add Animal Farm and Brave New World. I find it revealing that Huxley and Orwell were writing each other. I'd also add Propaganda by Edward Bernays. Edward was Sigmund Freud's nephew.

Well, the big problem (and the one big logical fault) Rand literally shrugged aside is energy.

Yeah, in the book the entire "Galts Gulch" is powered by some mysterious device in a box, a literal "deus ex machina" to fix her error, to wipe away the problems a society would have without energy (electrical) to get things done.

So everybody can live like a civilized person in all the comfort without annoying workers or slaves around to do what electrical machines do like pump water and sewage, ....

When you look at the power output of a human compared to the energy contained in a gallon of gas or diesel, you will need a sh*tton of manual labour to get things done, and house them and feed them and keep them domestic and...

Basically ancient rome or egypt levels of ratio of servs and masters.

So she threw in her mystery box that solves it all.

Yeah, nice idea, until you can run your own reactor AND fix it and fuel it and ... well it seems we need some bigger systems around to keep energy shipped, stored, converted ... than some weirdos in a valley.

Agreed. No slaves, no masters. Collaboration and the mutual, agreed exchange of value based on individual contributions.

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