Brushfire of Freedom
Ram Rants
Most conservatives, and many liberals, are familiar with the book, “Atlas Shrugged”. The work centers around a hero, John Galt, who develops a new motor that runs on ambient static electricity. Because the factory owners where he works decide they will shift to a collectivist business model, Galt decides to quit his job, abandon his new invention, and proceeds to organize a global strike of all creative leaders in an attempt to bring an end to the collectivist society. This is effectively the “shrug” referred to in the title.
Ayn Rand, the author, used this novel and others to present her philosophy of objectivism to the world. She believed that collectivism should be replaced by “enlightened” ideas of selfishness and individualism. In the book, the collectivist society eventually collapses under its own weight as is inevitable for reasons noted in a previous blog. Still, it is the “shrug” of “Atlas” that acts as the catalyst for the collapse, and evidence that the lack of the mythical “Socialist Man” will always bring about the end of Socialism.
Today we have a president and a political party that continues to spit in the face of history, science, academic study, and of course The People, and attempts to turn America into a collectivist society. The ever-expanding government regulation, the control over key industries (auto, finance, health care), and the overt extortion of funds from private companies (BP) make it clear that Obama and his bunch believe they can succeed where so many others have failed. They believe that The People voted for socialism when they voted for Obama. They also claim that Obama is not a socialist, but you’ll need to ignore that contradiction for the moment. Whether you call it socialism, collectivism, or some other “ism”, it is clear that Obama is not a big fan of capitalism and personal accountability. That is why in his opinion the government must grow.
“Henry” is a higher wage earner that is not quite rich (High Earner, Not Rich Yet) by government standards or most other normal societal views. Henry is responsible for paying a large portion of the taxes fed in to the federal coffers. He, or she, works a job that pays well, provides benefits, enables savings for retirement and possibly college for the kids, and lives by their own means in a neighborhood a bit more than just modest. There are no mansions in Henry’s neighborhood, but you might see some larger homes, slightly larger lots, and the odd BMW in the driveway. Henry frequently donates time and money to charity, invests small amounts in mid to moderate risk ventures in an effort to build a retirement nest egg, and has one or two hobbies that some might consider expensive.
Henry is in the cross hairs of the Tax Hikers that need more money for their collectivist agenda. It is Henry who has the most to lose when the new health care taxes kick in. It is Henry that will feel the pinch in 2011 when the Bush tax cuts are allowed to sunset by the Democrat congress. It is Henry that will pay the higher fees when the new finance reform bill forces banks to raise rates on basic services to make up for lost revenues and tax increases. Henry will pay for the health care for criminal immigrants, and is already paying for the $20 billion slush fund Obama has extorted from BP. Every tax increase is felt by Henry because Henry pays the bulk of the taxes.
Without the tax revenue generated by Henry’s work, there would be no Obamacare. The majority of the social programs adored and revered by liberals would collapse under their own weight. We already see some signs in this in the calls from the left for yet another stimulus bill. There are fewer and fewer Henrys and more people who want to benefit from Henry’s efforts. At some point we will come to the “shrug” that will force the collectivists to admit they have failed again, this time, for now, and a large part of their government framework will collapse.
When Henry shrugs, tax revenue is reduced. If Henrys stop working and investing because of the tax burden, Obama has no money for his government programs. Without tax revenue, government collectivism collapses. When government collectivism collapses, collectivists lose power, capitalism once again has room to grow, and more Henrys are born.
Liberals tend to raise taxes in response to Henry’s actions. This only increases the burden on Henry, and drives them to further modify their tax-paying behavior. At some point the weight of Obama’s policies will become too much for Henry and he, and she, will perform the inevitable shrug. When Henry shrugs, the people will know, and so will Obama.
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