I was scanning the internet today and I came across this article on the Wall Street Journal’s Website. The article was titled ‘Atlas Shrugged’: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years, I don’t normally read the WSJ because the articles in it are fairly liberal, this one however caught my eye because it was Ayn Rand.
The article talks about how Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. and how, These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged talks about these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as “the looters and their laws.” Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the “Anti-Greed Act” to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel’s promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the “Equalization of Opportunity Act” to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the “Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act,” aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn’t Hank Paulson think of that?
These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act” and the “Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act.” Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion — in roughly his first 100 days in office.
The current economic strategy is right out of “Atlas Shrugged”: The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That’s the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies — while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to “calm the markets,” another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as “Atlas” grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate “windfalls.”
I find it amazing how we the people keep voting these people in office; only to create more laws to control us, to make it harder for the little man to produce and make something of his/her life.It is so amazing how Ayn Rand got it so right that if America was to keep going down the same path, that it would either end up like Europe or Soviet Russia.
Bigger Government with more programs equals more Taxes and more Control.
Is it not crazy that we elect these people only to control us and we pay them to do that by them stealing our hard earned cash in the form of taxes?
Original WSJ Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123146363567166677.html
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