there are posts regarding galting in here. and some great posts. I just can't remember the titles. but someone else may well remember. We just post again when people ask questions. There are many ways to do this and even fellow strikers do not agree on any one path (just like in the book). Also, this a public forum and so you're not likely to get details as such.

I will say this. My husband and I have galted, yet remain committed to finding new ways to educate those in the US who are teetering on the brink. also trying to get those asleep at the wheel to wake up. This year, you will see an avalanche of "dawning". People figuring out that some law or other has passed and now affects them. Here's one of my recent favorites and I will post another law that many are unfamiliar with in here.

We have a good friend in Kansas whose wife is a teacher. The legislature is looking at legislation that would force teachers to buy only state sanctioned things. For example, if you wanted to buy a car, it would have to come from a qualified list of cars the state of Kansas agreed to. you can see where this goes. vacations, refrigerators, land outside of the state, etc. While all the teachers were enjoying their employment protections and salary increases not on merit but on seniority, they didn't even contemplate that they were in it to the devil. Now, they're going to have to pay if that passes. Of course they are horrified! We said to them, we have been following and telling you about govt over-reach for decades now. You just now get it?? They responded-well, you do when it finally happens to you-and you're the same. We replied, No. We have always followed EVERY freedom removal whether it happened to us or others. and you called us nuts for being so concerned about stuff nobody cares about. It's like cooking frogs. (I have never done this-but I'm told you put them in the cold water and by the time it is too hot, they're already done for. Now you'll get a french comment. :)

21 years as a public school educator. District, state, and national awards for excellence in the classroom. Volumes of positive feedback from students and parents. None from administration. Still got paid the same as the slugs who put forth little effort and were never around to help kids. Couldn't take it any more. I walked away. Now, whenever I need a name tag for some event, I use "John Galt".

When I was in the Air Force, I was constantly frustrated by the fact that I was paid significantly less than my married cow-orkers even though we had the same job. Even those I outranked were paid more than I if they were married. In addition to the second income from a spouse, they also got a host of social and financial benefits from the government for no reason other than their marriage. The same went for single parents, who were paid extra for having created children, along with their child support, WIC, and other welfare handouts. Without fail, I got the weekend, holiday, and night duties nobody wanted because I was the most available. I was also compelled to take on more additional duties than anyone else, for the same reason. When I objected to this treatment, I was told to shut up and stop whining, that my cow-orkers made sacrifices by being away from their families, and that I had no inkling of what it meant to be married with kids.

I also had no inkling what it was like to be paid for marriage or breeding, nor receive the sheer volume of social and fiscal support they did. I was forbidden to live on base and required to live on the local economy, which sucked tremendous amounts of money out of my pocket in rent & utilities and also travel back and forth to the base. So in 2008, I decided that I'd had enough. I didn't quit the AF, but I dialed back on the amount of time and energy I dedicated to their bottomless demands that I do more than anyone else, with fewer resources. The screaming and tantrums that followed was epic, with all manner of hatred and derision coming down on my head because I stopped being a sacrificial animal for their personal and reproductive choices.

When I started blowing the whistle on their illegal activity, they backed off. But that's another story...

In April of 2011 when I was at my nadir John Galt came to see me. He explained some things to me and helped me to see other things. I had an epiphany! Both him and I knew I wasn't ready that day so he said he would be back for me. We both knew the next time I would be going back with him. Fast forward to 2012. In the summer everything he said fell into place and I was ready. In the fall John Galt comes back to get me. On this day I accepted John Galt's invitation and life has never been better.

Ayn got it right. In so many ways. On so many levels.

Eight years ago I opened a business in a small town after purchasing the long abandoned Railroad Depot. For three years my business prospered and I was able to expand the original building to five times it's original size. Since the business was centered around handwork of my own making (pottery), you can imagine how happy I was with the growth and with the welcome I received from the community I came to love.

After the 2008 election my business like so many other retail businesses suffered a loss in sales and of course income. Since I have another fixed source of personal income, and the fact that I took on no debt to build my business, I felt confident that I could weather any storm. To this point I took no income from the business, choosing to put all profit back into the studio, equipment and supplies.

For the next two years we watched every dime, paid all our bills, expanded into wholesale markets and worked to build an additional internet market for my product. We did everything right, covered all the bases and filed sales taxes, filed income tax statements and to outward appearances, we seemed successful except we still never took a salary, but I was happy that what I was working toward was a future where we would reap the benefits of our labors.

Then one day late in 2010, I received a letter from the IRS informing me that they were going to audit my business, my personal filings and bank accounts. Although there was going to be some effort required to gather 3 years of statements, copies of filings, deposit slips, sales tax payments and all the rest, I knew I had filed everything correctly and the accountant I hired to file my taxes was a old, established firm I had confidence in. A few days and I had everything in one big file box, copies of everything, financial statements or each year and proof of where every dollar of income I had came from.

The two agents came to my business on a day we were closed and I laid everything out for them, gave them copies of everything, and as they ran the numbers, they agreed that indeed I had actually not taken any income, that every dollar that had entered my cash register was accounted for, and finally informed me that this was the problem - they did not believe that anyone would do what I did without hiding income somewhere. That our lifestyle mandated that we had more income than they could account for.

We then spent 6 months confirming every dollar we had earned, every capital gain, every cent of savings interest and how I'd taken a tax exempt settlement 15 years back. After all that they finally conceded that yes, I was a rare person who was actually 100% honest in all ways with my tax reporting and I owed nothing. I felt like I'd been beat to a pulp by then but I was relieved that this might be over. I was so relieved that I almost missed the next thing they told me. They added that there was a certain change that needed to be filed, that it did not change a thing, it was a correction and the agents assistant walked me through the form.

As I placed the form into the mail, I really assumed the grief was over. Foolish me. Two weeks latter another letter arrived informing me that a change had been entered to my filing that increased my tax liability in the amount of $145,000!!! I just lost the next few minutes. When my blood pressure finnaly lowered enough that I could see to read I quickly discovered that the person who had input the data into the computer had made a error and multiplied one number 10 times the real number.

A quick call to the investigating agents office reveiled what I could expect for the next year. "Oh, our people could not have made a mistake like that" was a phrase I soon got familiar with, along wit "if you pay this now, we will refund it to you when the entry problem is solved" sure you will. Then they began to ask for me to pay the interest on the amount I did not owe, or else they might be forced to freeze my bank accounts.

Almost a year of this, while I'm trying to run a business that was just getting by. The business I loved, the work I got out of bed for, the craft I'd spent years to perfect and the 6 years of university training I'd spent acquiring the needed skills was being used as a club against me each time I unlocked the door.

A year after it started there in the mail was the letter confirming that all claims against me had been dropped and that I owed nothing to the IRS - I was a free man - according to the government.

A couple events came together and a few weeks later a lady in town asked me if I'd ever consider selling my place. I thought about all that had taken place. The grief, the fear and frustration, all of it flashed in my mind for the long span of 15 seconds and I answered, yes I am. I sold it to her for $100 less than I'd invested. The IRS got nothing from me, my labor or my future.

I'm on STRIKE

I left the workforce for about a year after paying over 100,000 in federal income tax alone. After being very depressed about the state of our union for some time, I finally decided to give it another go and started my own consulting firm about 9 months ago. Doing well, but feel like I am playing the game as I am self-employed and do everything I can to cut my inputs to the tyranical government (and there is quite a bit one can do).

One good thing about a time like this ie the rise of the inept,,, is that it brings people like us together. I don't have a good label for myself; I don't care if gays marry, i think they should. I don't think religion has a place in our government, i am atheist. i believe in helping those who are down by giving welfare but with mandatory work and training programs, im for immigration thru proper channels, im for penalties commensurate with crimes including the death penalty. Im for much less government and much more constitution. Im for leaving people alone to do their thing without the government nanny state telling us what is right for us and i am for the right to bear arms. As a Dentist and artist who put myself through school with menial labor, and then creating a good profitable business, i know what it is like to give blood sweat and tears to make it. I also know the risks involved with changing times and the risk of physical disability. I believe in protecting your own butt. At the peak of my earning years, in the midst of maximum leverage and family building I felt the need to pay thru the nose for high end disability insurance in order to protect my family. I live in a big city where the great majority of people are liberals. Due to the advent of HMOs and PPOs people increasingly were expecting to pay little or nothing, requiring Drs to play the ins GAME to get paid enough to make a profit. I was unwilling to do so and maintained a high end private practice where i would help some people out as i saw fit. One day while trying to stay healthy i was hit by an impatient car while riding my bike, landing me in the hospital for 13 weeks and ending my dental career. After having to hire lawyers to get my ins to pay, ( deep pockets VS me) i ended up ok but with much less than expected. Rather than stay in the buiss with associate Drs trying to play the ins game all for the benefit of the moochers, i sold the business to a objectivist and started consulting. I now only work with objectivist Drs to help them succeed against the moochers. I am much happier now that i do not have to bite my tongue all day and feel that i can do my part against the mob. What goes around comes around and there are many ways to skin a cat. Cheers to all of you for standing fast in your own way, together we can make a difference.

I shrugged off my business in 2007. First it was the moochers, I couldn't seem to live in peace without doing something to appease them. Then it was the looters. The government seized $60,000 on a mistake they made. Even after they admitted their mistake, I still haven't seen my money. The moochers only got worse. I walked. I had everything I could ever want, and I walked. Away from the business, from my fiancé, from the house... at the time I was in the process of buying my dream car, I walked away from that too. I was a marketing consultant and graphic artist. I loved what I was doing, helping small businesses achieve their goals. But I couldn't keep feeding myself to the zombies. I had to start a minimum wage job about a year ago. Seems to be big fall from grace, but I have less worries. Most of the people I work with don't believe I ever had a business that successful, let alone that I would ever walk away from it. Let them think what they will. They'll learn eventually. In the last year, I've come to realize that my own family is among the worst of the moochers. I feel alone now. Empty. I'm in the process of liquidating them from my life. I need so desperately to find a real Galt's Gulch...

I wanted to post this, but I think it works well in your post, esk, due to the conversation shaping up in here
http://taxfoundation.org/article/america...
ing-combined

I work with a 35 year old mother of 3 who works 6 hrs a week at a neighborhood grocery store. Combined with her FT work income, her tax rate is north of 50%. Of course her taxes just went up. She said "F...it. Why wreck every Sunday afternoon for enought to buy a half tank of gas. I quit." She's never read AS, but she gets it.

I couldn't resist creating an account, after months of irregular lurking, so I could contribute to this thread.

For the last 10 years or so I have been running a reasonably successful dive bar. And in doing so, I am on strike.

It's not that the business doesn't require a huge amount of effort to operate profitably; it does. Just ask any other bar owner you may run into. And while I still work hard, I consider this endeavor's contribution back to our moocher society to be minimal, at best.

You see, like Hugh Akston and his diner, I have chosen not to use my skills and training to benefit those who want to reward my efforts by looting me of the fruits of those efforts. Instead, I use them on projects that amuse me and maybe a few of my customers.

Like Galt, I too am an engineer. I have degrees from MIT. I have patents. I have run more than one multi-million dollar hi-tech company. But no more. I am on strike. When California (and the Feds) sees fit to take more than 50% of what I produce / earn, then I simply stop producing.

And what I find most depressing is what happened last November. I cannot recall an election where the choice between the producers and the moochers was more stark. And yet the moochers prevailed. We now live in a society where the majority feels a moral right to take what they want/need from the minority without compensation. It's a slippery slope from which I cannot see a recovery. But unfortunately we do not live in Galt's world. Our decline will be more gradual, playing out over multiple generations. But make no mistake, the scales have tipped and the decline has begun.

And I remain on strike.

And I pray that my assessment is wrong.

After working and paying taxes and enduring regulations until the age of 55 I retired to found a campground which I ran until the burden of regulation and taxation made it less enjoyable. I now quietly speak out against the statist juggernaut whenever possible and wait to see the self destruction materialize from the preponderance of bad ideas and evasion of good ones.