Of Ayn Rand’s two most famous books, the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged I prefer the Fountainhead. Ayn Rand wrote about the Artist vs. the Political Correctness in 1945. It really says everything I wish the Left understood about why I detest their rhetoric. It’s quite possible to be both liberal and fascist, I don’t fear the right’s obsession with abortion with nearly the same dread as I fear the left’s obsession with political correctness.
Yet its Atlas Shrugged that I find most useful in my life. Like Fountainhead, Atlas clearly displays Rand’s contempt for those who talk versus those who do. This time the hero is not an Artist, he is a engineer and industrial magnate. In Atlas, rather then fighting the good fight against the forces of evil (and losing), the people who actually do all the work just leave the forces of evil (the talkers and parasites) to their own devices.
Of course, civilization collapses…
Which brings us to the election. The Democrats would really like to believe:
- Losing wasn’t their fault
- Republicans are Evil
- The Voters are Stupid
None of those are true no matter how much the Democrat’s might like to believe it. The real issue is much more simple, but to really understand why the Democrat’s lost, Atlas Shrugged is required reading.
Here’s are chart for you to look at that really illustrates what happend:
We know red states gained in population over the blue states, because if Bush had only taken the same states he took last time, he would have gotten 7 extra electoral votes (278 instead of 271). But this chart shows why. Blue states lost jobs. While they gained workers due to population growth and aging, it was less then the red states.
Why? My premise is simple and has nothing to do with “moral values”. The fundamental premise of Democratic politics, that the government should take $1 away from taxpayers in order to distribute 40 cents worth of goods is flawed (The government loses $.60 out of every dollar due to its incompetence). In general, it would be better to leave that $1 in the hands of taxpayers so that they can directly stimulate the economy.
So Ayn Rand was wrong. The people who actually do things in this country need not go into hiding on a mysterious island. They merely need to move to a Red state, leaving the lawyers and similar types behind in their old Blue state.
That’s what’s really happening in this country I expect. Where I live in Arizona, I constantly see businessmen and workers fleeing the soft tyranny of the Blue states for a Red state where they can make a living. This trend will only continue, until the Democrats learn the lesson of Atlas Shrugged: It’s the people that do that make this country great, not the people who talk. So people will continue to vote with their feet long before they vote in elections, and the red states (which I’m assuming to be more conservative) will continue to grow at the expense of the blue states. The liberals in the red states will say, “Yeah, I used to live in Vermont, and it was great how the government used to pay for everything, but I had to move here to get a job.”
This trend isn’t new, the go-getters from Europe have been moving to America for decades. That’s why we’ve had 3% growth for 9 out of the last 10 years, and they’ve had 1% growth. All those socialist agendas sound good, but they don’t work.
Here are some links to the books if you’ve never read them. I promise you, they’re quite an enjoyable read even for liberals.
Comments (2)
What would Rand think about pork barrel and subsidy from Blue States which the Red States have no problem accepting?
Does your job depend in any way from government spending?
Posted by Anonymous | November 16, 2004 1:56 PM
Posted on November 16, 2004 13:56
In any way? Well, I work in the Financial industry, so mostly no, but yes in the way that if government spending and the tax burden went down, my fortunes would go up.
Anyways, Blue states get a larger portion of our tax dollar then Red States. Urban areas even more so, though agricultural subsidies make up for some of that.
Posted by Opinionated Bastard![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.opinionatedbastard.com/nav-commenters.gif)
|
November 16, 2004 2:47 PM
Posted on November 16, 2004 14:47