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5 US Bills Straight Out Of Atlas Shrugged
Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,
“John Galt is Prometheus who changed his mind. After centuries of being torn by vultures in payment for having brought to men the fire of the gods, he broke his chains—and he withdrew his fire—until the day when men withdraw their vultures.”
Sick of the overbearing regulation, taxation, and entitlement mentality in society—in the book Atlas Shrugged, John Galt went to one entrepreneur after another to convince them that they just didn’t need to put up with it anymore.
They didn’t need to keep propping up a system that was trying to destroy them. Where’s the point in continuing to feed a parasitic system?
So one by one, these innovators and producers simply closed up shop, deciding to just “shrug” and abandon what they were providing thanklessly to the looters.
Today many companies are doing the same. They may not be abandoning their businesses altogether, but they are moving them out of the hands of the parasites by moving their tax bases abroad.
In Ayn Rand’s book, the Economic Planning Bureau dealt with this by legislating that no businesses could leave: “[a]ll the manufacturing establishments of the country, of any size and nature, were forbidden to move from their present locations, except when granted a special permission to do so.”
In real life today, we have a string of policies being proposed to similarly discourage companies from leaving, or failing that, to try to claw as much money as possible from them first.
First, take the H.R. 5278: No Federal Contracts for Corporate Deserters Act, which bars federal contracts for American companies that have gone overseas for tax purposes.
Then take the H.R. 5549: Pay What You Owe Before You Go Act, which seeks the seizure of unrepatriated corporate revenue.
Even the language used by these bill’s supporters is eerily similar to the novel, as politicians call for corporations to pay their “fair share” and bemoan that Americans have to “pick up the tax burden inverted companies shrug off.”
At the time, Rand might have thought that she was writing about an extreme, fictional society. But it seems that the Land of the Free is eager to exceed even her worst expectations.
When she wrote about the “Economic Emergency Law”, which forbade any discrimination “for any reason whatever against any person in any matter involving his livelihood”, she was likely thinking about criteria such as race, gender, and age.
She might have even considered they would try to prevent employers from making judgments based on a person’s ability, though I’m sure she would not have even imagined what politicians have actually come up with in the US.
Try the S. 1972/ H.R. 3972: Fair Employment Opportunity Act that proposed to prohibit discrimination according to a person’s history of unemployment.
Or even worse, the S. 1837: Equal Employment for All Act that would have prohibited employers from even looking at prospective employee’s credit ratings.
The literary similarities don’t just stop with corporations either. Compare the fictional Project Soybean, designed to “recondition” people’s dietary habits to the actual H.R. 4904: Vegetables Are Really Important Eating Tools for You (VARIETY).
Tell me, which one sounds more ludicrous to you?
With each new piece of legislation being proposed in the Land of the Free, Atlas Shrugged seems to be ever more prophetic.
While even the most terrifying elements of the book are coming true, so are the reactions.
People and companies are leaving, refusing the put up with the looting of their efforts any longer.
Despite politicians’ desperate attempts to stop it, Atlas is already shrugging.
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Regardless of where these corporations are located or how much tax they do or don't pay, American consumers are treated like shit and have less and less to show for it, including whatever pittance our overlords provide back to us.
That is true. There is a great opening up of Classes.
Even hard working lower class households with two working adults don't see what is happening. Brain Washed.
Doesn't Simon Black charge like $1000 to join his financial service?
John Galt. As a character Galt is an American with Mid-West Values. Suburbia seems to have come up with Codependence. Farmers treat there hard working women well, but the Woman have to work pretty hard as do the kids. So Big City Corruption(Politics of course), TV, Public Relations, Propaganda... Corrupted Religion... all are to blame.
Meanwhile... people running our accounts patronize us. People think they have authority when we are the consumer, the tax payer, and the Voter.
Yes, we have power. We decide.
go 'head n shrug n all dat...I still gets mah EBT 'til all d'money gone...
go 'head n shrug n all dat...I still gets mah EBT 'til all d'money gone...and dey keep on p'intin' on too...dat fo' it don' run out...
Apparently, after 600 high income people left France, President Hollande decided to eliminate the 75% top tax rate next year.
I wish certain of you would stop the regular use of gay porn type insults and references.
They paint a foul word-picture I don't need. I am getting older, but I think it makes many others uncomfortable.
Just state your case; feel free to be ironic, sardonic or moronic, I learn a lot reading the opinions of thinking people.
There's a few people around here who have so many issues that they should get a subscription already.
I love all the gnashing of teeth over corporate taxes. It is such a ruse for raising taxes on the bleating ones.
For the trillionth time: Businesses do not pay business/corporate taxes, their customers do.
If the pols and crats doubled the taxes on Netflix, or other, your Netflix, or other, bill would go up; More than the tax so as to offset cancellations, loss of business, etc.
When it is announced that a company didn't "pay their fair share," it really means that they saved their customers money, and maybe employed a few extra people than they otherwise would have.
An American, not US subject.
Yes. Had a German Plumber say the same thing. He just charges the tax Increase to his customers.
But notice that we have downward sticky prices when we have big businesses then just want to pocket the extra as bonus money and higher compensation.
US Big Three Auto companies must have blown their wad early. Even with Outsourcing back into the 1960s... the company still didn't know how to build value, determine appropriate worker compensation levels, and make good executive decisions. Today foreign car makers beat them at their own game on their own soil. But I'm thinking Executive compensation was way over paid. Like a cartel. The mob Bosses want more and more money to prove they are a big boss till they ruin the Venture.
So did we see any discounts after these companies went off shore or did the executives get all the Juice? Like after leading the world into a financial crisis they gave themselves bonuses.
Seems like Left & Right Politics. Our team is capitalism, so many of us can't see any greed, corruption, envy, looting of corporations, or even bankers looting the USD & corrupting our politics.
Though I am not an 'Atlas' of industry I do compete with several of them. I have two US manufacturing locations, one of which is in California; the cost of doing business there is significantly higher than a competitor's in say, Tennessee. We're at a competitive disadvantage due to higher taxes and we cannot pass along the extra cost or we'll lose to our competitor. Our only choice is to absorb the tax until such time as we "shrug" by leaving California, a subject we discussed at length today.
On a larger scale, my companies have also competed against several manufacturers in the BRICS for years now, same thing is true. We must absorb the additional cost or lose sales due to higher prices driven entirely by taxes & regulations.
Considering the additional cost of making a product in the USA simply to pay for the Govt imposed burden one arrives at two conclusions:
A. the remaining businesses must be very efficient or die.
B. we are keeping less of what we make than a business based elsewhere
I'm doing a worker owned automated Guillotine startup we'd like you to be our first beta tester.
"if I were in congress"
Thats the problem with central planners. Its OK so long as they do what you want. They do what someone else wants, then not OK with you? Perhaps we should cut to the chase and just make you King. Or, would you prefer a central planner control your life?
I think I'll make a gay porn series called Atlas Tugged.
Atlas Shrunk
HBO's "Last Week" just had an anti-Ayn Rand rant. Coincidence? (Yes I realize no one watches that show.)
That's nice. Maybe the highly paid HBO executives are ready to open their wallets and share the fruits of their labor with the rest of us folks. They are THAT STUPID. The old "Do as I say, not as I do" gag.
I always thought that "greedy but highly ethical" that her imaginary movers and shakers demigods are... kinda an oxymoron.
On the other note, were the all breaks of regulations (laws of decency to say at least) dismantled prior to 2008, so the captains of industries (Atlases) can roam wild but "kept in check with invisible hand of free market".
Thinks went sour, didn't they ?
The moment Atlas collects his/hers first 100 mil next train, or first (used) private plane stop is Washington DC - need to "adjust" some laws.
I just want to know why, when I give a comments post an up arrow, the down arrow also registers a down vote? I don't like that one little bit! Fix it, Tyler.
Just another nod in the direction of equality and anti-discrimination. And HATE. Why are you a HATER?
.
It is a coinicidence I believe, between you and another person who gave a down arrow as your arrow up, updated the comment to include all who arrowed up or down. Unless you know that already and are just kidding ... if so, excuse me, I have lost my sense of humor somewhere and have yet to locate it.
She wasn't prophetic. She was one of the agents that designed this path.
So let me get this straight. Highest level of wealth/income inequality since the turn of the last century, and the plutocrat's shills are complaining about a few bills that will never see the light of day. Even if these bills did make it into law, I'm sure their get out of jail cards are at the ready.
Many are wondering why large corporations are spending millions to buy back their own shares.
Many think it's because they're trying to raise Earnings-per-Share.
I believe it's because the boards of these corporations can see the theft of cash via "bail-ins" and taxation in the near future, and they're trying to get rid of as much cash as possible while they can. The government can steal your cash but it's much harder to steal shares that have been cancelled and, thus, no longer exist.
Cut off the logistics for support of the urban plantations. The PRC uses the same order of battle. Asymmetric tactics has it's place.
where i live they reserve hate crime status for chalky cracker white people. never has a hate crime been added when a black person is being prosecuted.
i think we should get rid of the judicial branch and "reset" the judges. the justice the american courts hand out is justice for the criminals.
Damocles needs to learn how to dodge. 'Cause government wants to drop the hammer.