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The U.S. government has escalated its traditional interference in the economy. (Some) business leaders are upset. Upset enough to promote Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. There is allegedly a movement for productive members of society to protest the government's escalation by "going Galt
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What I believe (not speaking for the Left) is that the market currently fails to account for many real costs, and that government can try / is trying to redress the imbalance.
Whom do you pay to ensure you have clean air to breathe? Who owns that air? Who is responsible for choosing to keep it clean or allowing it be be polluted? How could we go about assigning property rights? Are you willing to forgo the use of air, should you not like the terms offered for its supply?
Would you be happier paying a privately owned company for the right to drive on their roads to get to your job? Do you think it would be better for everyone if police departments were disbanded and replaced with private security contractors? Do you think we need to disarm the federal military?
I used to be a fan of Rand, back when I saw her primarily as championing intelligence and competency over popularity and brute power. But she lost her appeal when I realized that people like you and me aren't good enough in Rand's vision. We're supposed to keep our noses clean and do our jobs and accept whatever world our betters choose to make (to serve their own interests). In many ways, Rand is just as elitist as the totalitarian regimes she bitterly denounced...she just disagrees with who gets to be at the top.
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