Going Galt

I bought a copy of Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. Its been going around a lot and I thought I would check it out.

Except it is a freakin' huge book, and though I want to read it, it doesn't come across as light reading. Of course it's a classic. At 1069 pages and tiny print, I think it might be something I'll pick at over time.

But the thought of 'going Galt', as is described on various blogs I read, does sound like an appealing notion. Basically, the premise behind going Galt is that you reduce your income and live in a means so as not to allow the government to get more of your money through taxation, especially in this day an age where we are in a situation of having out of control spending courtesy of the government and the only way to pay for that spending is through taxes. It's basically a form of protest through your check book.

Why this idea appeals to me is a few reasons. One, I was raised on the notion of provident living, which is living in a status of self reliance. In a matter of economic hardships, a lot of people are looking toward the government to bail them out instead of looking at what they can do to get by. The funny thing is, at this moment, the economy really isn't that bad. People are still able to buy their necessities. We don't have massive food shortages or anything of that nature. People aren't starving. Most people are just finding themselves forced to eat out less, to bypass going to the movies right now. They have to cut back from getting those little luxaries in life. True, there is the mortgage crisis of people possibly getting their houses foreclosed, but its not due to lack of housing that is causing this problem. If a person loses their home, they still have the option of downsizing after all. That doesn't necessarily kick them out into the street. What about renting a smaller place until they get on their feet again?

There are so many things going on in this situation that is the root of it. I am outraged by the amount of spending going on in DC right now. What is the matter with these people? The fact that Obama wants to 'fix' everything at once is part of the problem. We need to fix the economy first, and ramming every little pet project that ever existed through our budget, continuing to bail out businesses that keep losing money with no hope of ever getting that money back, this is not going to help us in this situation.

I think we need to let AIG and Citigroup and the big three auto makers to fail. Yes, it will put a damper on the economy, but we've thrown how many billions of dollars at them so far and to what? They just come back asking for another hand out. Enough is enough, they can't depend on the government to come in and rescue them, while keep asking for hand outs. I've come to a point where I don't think I'll ever buy a domestic automobile.

So this is my protest. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the government gets as little of my money to tax as possible. Now, granted, I'm not making anywhere near 250,000 dollars a year and I don't own a small business, and my pay is on salary so I make the same amount whether I work more hours or less, but I think I can see where I can avoid taxation. How about getting by with less?

Hmm, sounds like a perfectly sound plan to me. Until the government gets the clue that maybe IT'S the cause of this problem and not the solution.