# I Pit John Galt Wannabes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295 "2012-11-07T23:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/21 "2012-11-08T02:41:51Z")
Over on his blog at _The Atlantic_, James Fallows posted a letter and several follow-ups and responses to “the Atlas Shrugged guy” who says he’s an entrepreneur who will close his business now that Obama won: [What If the GOP Loses? ‘Atlas Shrugged’ vs. ‘The Fire Next Time’](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/what-if-the-gop-loses-atlas-shrugged-vs-the-fire-next-time/264556/) [No Love for the ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Guy](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/no-love-for-the-atlas-shrugged-guy/264564/) [The ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Guy Pushes Back!](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-atlas-shrugged-guy-pushes-back/264588/) [The ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Guy Has His Full Say](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-atlas-shrugged-guy-has-his-full-say/264612/) [The Election-Night Thoughts of the ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Guy](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/the-election-night-thoughts-of-the-atlas-shrugged-guy/264852/) Makes me think that the least realistic part of Atlas Shrugged was the part where John Galt takes to the airwaves, and the nation doesn’t collectively respond “Christ, what an asshole that guy is.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/22 "2012-11-08T02:52:17Z")
Since any country near as wealthy as the US will be far more ‘socialist’, and any country as conservative far poorer, I encourage Republicans to emigrate out of disgust. They’d gather valuable perspective in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/23 "2012-11-08T03:47:13Z")
Vast swaths of people seem to have convinced themselves that they can do without civilization and make it just fine on their own. They are almost all completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/24 "2012-11-08T03:49:30Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Moderating] > I’ve removed the link to the other message board to prevent the possibility of a board war. > [/Moderating] Why are we always the pussy board? Why can’t we fire the initial salvo and follow it up with a frontal assault? Geez, moderator… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/25 "2012-11-08T03:55:22Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > Vast swaths of people seem to have convinced themselves that they can do without civilization and make it just fine on their own. They are almost all completely wrong. Frequently, however, the reverse is true: civilization can do without _them._ ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/26 "2012-11-08T04:37:37Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I question the seriousness of this. All true believers know that Obama’s going to inflate away the debt, so selling everything for cash would be self-defeating. Well, your typical John Galt wannabe (the actual, go-live-in-a-log-cabin kind, not the post-about-it-on-the-internet-while-fapping-furiously kind) tends to also be a goldbug in my experience. Which is doubly hilarious to me - first because, well, goldbugs are kooky in and of themselves and so is their assertion that gold is recession-proof and intrinsically invariant in value ; and second because the idea that they resolutely and deliberately go live in spartan squalor for the sake of their little pot o’ gold, hoarding it; counting it; polishing it; never ever spending it; yet maintaining it has Value with a V brings me to fricking tears. World War 3 could dawn and a million nukes could fall, the survivors could go on a Nuka Cola bottlecap economy, and they’d still clutch their gold like severely irradiated leprechauns. Truly broken minds, those. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/27 "2012-11-08T04:43:09Z")
I am neither an economist nor a survivalist, but I am baffled by part of this plan: > [@](#): > > 1. Liquidate everything you can by the end of the year. Convert it into cash and squirrel that cash away. > > 2. Stop buying stuff. At least anything beyond the absolute essential. The military calls it “beans, bullets, batteries, and fuel.” Make what you have last. If you have to buy a replacement, buy used. Try to barter if you can. Craigslist is full of stuff that costs a fraction of what new stuff costs. Lay in a stash of ammunition, canned food, the myriad batteries we use commonly, and some storable fuel to keep you warm in the winter. Above all, defer purchase of big-ticket depreciating items like houses and cars. Pay off your old house and car if you can. > > 3. Minimize eating out. Minimize entertainment. Both are more expensive than you think. Uh, if you are stockpiling cash and expect society to collapse, **why pay off your house?** _Save_ that cash for your stockpile, and when society collapses, you can stop making payments! What sort of low-grade idiot would struggle to pay a large lump sum as part of a plan to accumulate a large lump sum for an approaching crisis? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/28 "2012-11-08T05:21:36Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > What sort of low-grade idiot would struggle to pay a large lump sum as part of a plan to accumulate a large lump sum for an approaching crisis? Errr. I’m gonna go out on a limb here but… Your basic, regular low grade idiot? ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/29 "2012-11-08T08:42:08Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I am neither an economist nor a survivalist, but I am baffled by part of this plan: > > Uh, if you are stockpiling cash and expect society to collapse, **why pay off your house?** _Save_ that cash for your stockpile, and when society collapses, you can stop making payments! > > What sort of low-grade idiot would struggle to pay a large lump sum as part of a plan to accumulate a large lump sum for an approaching crisis? It’s so the bands of mercenaries hired by the banks to protect their investments will treat you as a freeman rather than a debt slave during the Great Readjustment. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/30 "2012-11-08T10:57:50Z")
I work in an industry that requies precious metal as part of its manufacturing process. We take a sheet of glass and coat it with a layer of silver less than a thousandth of an inch thick. This significantly reduces the amount of energy needed to cool and heat the home. Recalling all the buildings you saw from the window of your last plane trip, imagine how much silver and energy this means. However, a while back, at the urging of Glen Beck among others, assholes like these have been buying up gold and sliver, driving up our costs, when our profits were already compromised by the housing bust. I know that governments like to push precious metals onto the market when there’s a fear of inflation; to sponge up all the excess cash that’s otherwise drving up the cost of too few goods. But there’s not a lot of cash or credit in the average person’s disposal right now. And China has taken the scarcity of goods out of the equation. So this attitude is, as I see it, just true grass roots stupidity posing as common sense. What’s the best job skill to teach your children? Easy: hand-to-hand combat! Any other skill is tainted by Socialism. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/31 "2012-11-08T13:07:51Z")
This part is a bit kooky as well: > [@](#): > > 1. Minimize eating out. Minimize entertainment. Both are more expensive than you think. BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I eat out several times a week, and take several vacations a year, and barely break $4K on entertainment (and I’m being liberal in that estimate). If they think $4K is “expensive” for leisure, then they aren’t in the 53%. ---
**Author:** ![bahimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bahimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahimes)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/32 "2012-11-08T15:06:36Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Since any country near as wealthy as the US will be far more ‘socialist’, and any country as conservative far poorer, I encourage Republicans to emigrate out of disgust. > > They’d gather valuable perspective in a heartbeat. Those threatening to leave probably have never left the borders, wouldn’t know how to “legally” enter another country to reside, or even how to ask a non-'merikun how to start. Do they think it is any easier to deal with immigration in other countries than it is in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/33 "2012-11-08T15:22:08Z")
Frigging ammo-hoarders will drive the price of ammo sky high again. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/34 "2012-11-08T15:51:01Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > World War 3 could dawn and a million nukes could fall, the survivors could go on a Nuka Cola bottlecap economy, and they’d still clutch their gold like severely irradiated leprechauns. This…this needs to appear in a Fallout game. I’m picturing a gold-hoarding ghoul dressed like a leprechaun here… > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Errr. I’m gonna go out on a limb here but… > > Your basic, regular low grade idiot? Nah; we are talking about the deluxe turbo idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/35 "2012-11-08T15:54:24Z")
> [@bahimes](#): > > Those threatening to leave probably have never left the borders, wouldn’t know how to “legally” enter another country to reside, or even how to ask a non-'merikun how to start. > Do they think it is any easier to deal with immigration in other countries than it is in the US? What do you think the odds are that any of them speak a second language? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/36 "2012-11-08T17:12:10Z")
What do you call someone who speaks several languages? Mutli-lingual. Someone who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual. Someone who only speaks English? American. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/37 "2012-11-08T17:53:40Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I really hate to have to say this, but “you parodying conservatives” isn’t too far off. One of my Facebook friends said she **hopes** America burns for their choice to elect Obama. I think they meant to say paraphrasing not parodying. I have ehard this sentiment all over the place. There are more conservative posters on the internet pretending to be small business owners who will fire everyone, burn their buiness to the ground and leave the country because their taxes will go up than there are small businesses that earn more than $250K/year (the lowest threshhold for your taxes going up under Obama). ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/38 "2012-11-08T18:09:57Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > This is the same as the idiotic ‘I will leave the country if so-and-so is elected’. I made such a statement when Sarah Palin was added to the Republican ticket in '08: I would want no part of an America where that woman could be elected Vice President. Of course, the realities of finding suitable employment in another country might have prevented me from actually leaving, but you can bet your ass I would have seriously tried. > [@Colibri](#): > > What do you think the odds are that any of them speak a second language? Who needs a second language? Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia…plenty of countries have English (or a variation) as either their official language or their lingua franca. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/39 "2012-11-08T18:43:39Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > In my mind, since I refused to vote for either, Obama is just a kinder, gentler, slower descent into Hell since neither Party to me is capable of fixing or recognizing our true economic woes. > > But that’s just my personal opinion. What’s America’s true economic woe? A lack of bodily fluid stockpiles? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295/40 "2012-11-08T18:49:35Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Who needs a second language? Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia…plenty of countries have English (or a variation) as either their official language or their lingua franca. And all of them socialist. To find a non-socialist bolthole, you have to start looking at 3rd world pits. The more advanced 3rd world countries have too many socialist leanings to be comfortable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-john-galt-wannabes/640295.md?page=3)