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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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April 27th, 2009 I AM NOT JOHN GALT...YET Who is John Galt? Those who have read the greatest book ever written, “Atlas Shrugged,” already know both the answer and the irony of the question. John Galt is the hero of the story of an America gone wrong, as written by Ayn Rand more than five decades ago. As a former Soviet, Rand saw all that America was and feared all that it could be if not cared for, nurtured and protected. In her fictional tome of more than 1,100 pages Rand lays out an America slowly destroyed by “Collectivism,” the idea that no individuals actually matter or even figuratively exist. We are all one, says collectivism, and whatever anyone produces is produced for the good of the group, not for the individual to reap rewards from it. Or, put in more modern terms, the more successful you are, the more you produce, and the more you earn, the more you shall have confiscated from you so that it may be redistributed and spread around to those “less fortunate.” Rand’s book goes to great lengths to systematically destroy the myth of anyone in America being “less fortunate,” proving that they are, rather, simply more lazy and/or less inclined to work as hard as others to earn their lot in life. If you haven’t yet noticed the prophetic nature of “Atlas Shrugged,” and its exact parallels to what is happening in our nation today, then you are either an idiot or a deluded fool. To wit, ever since President Obama was sworn into office less than 100 days ago, sales of the book have soared. Rand saw all of this coming and has been vindicated by events. http://www.theweek.com/article/index/95431/Ayn_Rand_Capitalisms_enduring_crusader In the original novel, as in today’s America, the collectivist movement is aided by a growing number of lazy, ignorant people who fail to recognize all that America offers. And why should they, after all? If an all powerful government is going to promise you so much more than you’re willing to work for, and deliver it by literally taking it away from those who work hard and produce the most amongst us, why would you be persuaded to work hard in the first place? More and more Americans today continue to embrace the idea of lolly-gagging through life, being handed a mediocre existence and being told that it’s coming at the expense of “evil business men,” who have somehow “stolen” their success from the mythical “less fortunate.” For decades, we have told Americans that successful people are crooks, liars, thieves, and opportunists who do not earn their successes; they steal them from “the little guy,” by refusing to pay “fair” wages and rewarding themselves disproportionately. The propaganda of class warfare has worked. In a stunning poll last week, almost half of all American citizens either blatantly supported socialism (collectivism) or weren’t sure. Only 53% of us proudly said that capitalism, the system that rewards individuals and risk takers and has created the greatest economic system and wealthiest nation in the history of the planet, is in fact, the correct economic system for America. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/04/09/2009-04-09_many_americans_prefer_socialism_to_capitalism_a_new_poll_finds.html In “Atlas Shrugged,” as right now in America, the achievers are sucked dry. They are vilified, threatened, and told that they will be retroactively punished for their years of greed and gluttony. And then a funny thing happens; the achievers begin to disappear. One by one, the smartest, most accomplished cart-pullers of the time seemingly vanish from the face of the Earth. As they do, jobs disappear, opportunities no longer present themselves, entire cities shut down as a result of a lack of commerce, and a government incapable of providing the leadership, ingenuity and opportunity that only individual risk takers can provide, begins to prey on the very people it once promised to protect and provide for. With a lack of achievers to suck from, the government begins to confiscate and steal from the “middle class,” all in the name of doing what’s best for the “community.” In the end, the message is delivered very clearly; the achievers have left. They have packed up, taken their riches and allowed those who have scorned them to see what life is really like without the evil, greedy risk takers. America has been destroyed…and the country is begging for the achievers to once again rise up, take risks, create jobs, produce wealth and build a nation. When individuals work in their own self interest, everyone benefits from the results. This lesson was learned centuries ago at the first Thanksgiving and is proven every single time it is tested; hard workers and achievers do not ask to be revered, they ask to be allowed. All that you reap as a result is yours to keep, just don’t take from us along the way. http://www.robarnieanddawn.com/newsite/soapbox/truestoryofthanksgiving.html Many people today are now advocating “going Galt,” thus encouraging small and large business owners to simply close up shop, stop doing business and go home. The idea is simple; those of us who took risks and started companies and created jobs are fully capable of removing ourselves from society and surviving and thriving. Not just because we have accumulated wealth, but because we have always been the ones willing to do whatever it takes to win. Along the way, as we achieve, we provide new opportunities to new people to also thrive. But what if we all disappeared? What if the achievers just closed down and went away and left no jobs, no health plans, no retirement packages? The Achievers, mind you, would be fine; either through their accumulated wealth or their ability to start over anew and thrive once again elsewhere. How would you be? Who would you work for? Where would your meal come from? The government? How exactly would the government, an entity whose only revenue comes from taxing its citizens, provide all of that to all of its people with no wealth to tax? Quite a quandary… Decades ago, when tax rates in America were between 70-90% for the achievers, there was, in fact a mass exodus. Those of you who scoff that such things “will never happen,” are indicative of the very mindset that allows you to never achieve; you’re a defeatist, a failure, a nay-sayer; those of us who achieve ask “how,” those of you who suckle from us ask “where’s mine?” It’s no surprise of course that Ayn Rand’s book was widely panned when it was released. Then, as now, the world was filled with elitist hypocrites who all believe that they know better than you and that they should tell you how things should be, but that they should not be held to the same standards. For decades, for example, the New York Times has written uncountable articles demeaning and belittling CEOs that accept enormous salaries and bonuses. We were told that $20 million salaries and multi-million dollar bonuses were “greedy and excessive.” Until recently, it didn’t even matter to the Times that the companies run by those CEOs were making buckets of profits; the Times still argued that the salaries and bonuses were excessive, and that the money should go to “the little people,” not the guy who made the decisions that led to the success. During the recent economic slowdown, the Times turned up the heat and pointed to large salaries, bonuses and golden parachutes paid to CEOs of companies that lost money; and then, in typical elitist hypocrisy came this news: In the first 3 months of this year, the New York Times lost $ 74.5 million. Guess who got a $5.5 million bonus? You guessed it, the CEO of…wait for it…the New York Times. So where does all of this leave us? For starters, we’re living “Atlas Shrugged.” The comparisons are chilling, not only for the prescient nature of the story but also for the lengths to which the characters in the book had to go to reclaim not just their nation but their rightful place in society. It seems as though today’s America is on the same track; no one seems to be stopping or slowing down this devastating train that could literally cripple our nation for decades to come. How far are today’s American’s willing to go? Tea parties are a nice start, but a long way from “going Galt.”
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