Going Galt the, practical way

Posted by DennisJeeves 1 year, 11 months ago to Going Galt
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Most people when they talk about 'Going Galt' are generally talking about themselves and probably no one else (except perhaps family members) being involved. This is a great start but also has limited value in what one can achieve individually. Also being off the grid is not always optimum, Ideally the gulch should be able to replicate all the good stuff the grid has to offer, like a hospital, or jobs that pay well. In short larger projects (whatever that might be) require more people who are philosophically aligned.

I'm putting crude efforts in that direction which are outlined here at https://quberoot.wordpress.com/ . If you are interested please contact me after reading what I have put in the link. One thing that I can say unflinchingly is that it will take a lot of effort in building working relationships - something which admirers of Ayn Rand do not comprehend.

Summary, if you don't want to read the whole thing:
1) Get together with like minded people ( I have defined what like minded is).
2) Work on projects for mutual benefit.

As you can see there is nothing new about it really (partly the theme of Galt's Gulch in Atlas Shrugged ) , but the big challenge appears that often relatively independent thinking people also come with their quirks, for example a near complete lack of effort in putting aside minor differences to co-operate with other like-minded people for mutual benefit. Independence of thought (which is good) tends to foster loner (which is bad) like tendencies.
SOURCE URL: https://quberoot.wordpress.com/


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  • Posted by BrettRocketSci 1 year, 11 months ago
    Thanks for this effort and invitation Dennis. I agree 100% it is in our self-interest to find like-minded people and pursue joint efforts for mutual benefit. Further I believe we should prioritize those efforts that are essential for our health, livelihood, and sustenance. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could create our own "Gulch" in our world now without having to exit from the world completely. Individualism and isolationism are not the same, and shouldn't be.
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    • Posted by Mediocre_Alex 1 year, 11 months ago
      The distinction between Isolationism and Individualism could not be starker.

      Socialists/central planners tend to naively claim that capitalism leads to the isolation of individuals due to the lack of a central entity through which all social life and transactions go through.

      This is entirely wrong: On the one hand in a centralized regime all incentives to develop a genuine relationship of affection with another individual is destroyed. You will much rather lobby this centralized entity than try to collaborate with others to pursue mutually beneficial objectives, this is so because people have less capacity to pursue their projects when a powerful centralized entity exists(required taxation to keep the beast alive), and because a centralized entity produces a tragedy of the commons in which the demand for products and services are blown out of proportion, people individually do not assume the cost of their requests while the collective does.

      On the other hand, when lacking a central entity through which all social life and transactions go through the reverse phenomenon occurs: we are more able to pursue our objectives, making our fellow co-inhabitants much more attractive potential partners to collaborate with and at the same time all incentives are aligned to develop deep and meaningful relationships with other individuals, as free riders are penalized and hard work is incentivised, building trust within and without communities.

      This is why we should advocate for an as free of a market as it can possibly exist. The government is a necessary evil because it leads to vice and corruption but the feasability of a flourishing anarchist society is doubtful.
      Guarding against vice is the highest virtue.

      The market is the path to non-isolated individualism, the government is the path to isolated collectivism, let's act accordingly.
      Chers Brett
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      • Posted by bradAnderson 1 year, 10 months ago
        I agree with everything you are saying. To further this discussion, how do these twisted ideologies manifest? I believe Thomas Sowell rightly claims it comes from these so-called intellectuals of society. That is, people who contribute no end products, but merely entitle themselves "experts" and get paid in exchange for their alleged wisdom regarding an issue they thought up themselves. You don't have to look very hard into history to discover these issues of experts who are not legitimate contributors in the fields they are advising on. Great Depression? Vietnam War? COVID? These are only a few but extremely obvious examples. The economic issues depicted in Atlas Shrugged and the constant "advice" from "experts" that lead to policy are a mere analogy for these real world situations. A few people, who contribute no products or services, are receiving a paycheck for doing virtually nothing. Furthermore, they somehow their power only continues to expand (i.e. CDC during COVID dictating policy on eviction moratorium).

        To bring this back to your point, this fake idea that individualism is the same as isolationism. The idea has been perpetuated and the masses consume it without thinking. Any legitimate contributor can explain away their flawed rationale for this outlandish claim. They simply continue to do it in the name of false virtue and have it instilled in everyone that the greatest and highest virtue is to pursue the public good. In the words of Hank Rearden, "Public good be damned." Public good only exists when all choose to pursue personal successes. Then a society is established of successful people and the success is mutually beneficial. To simplify, would we rather have a society of homeless people who don't know much but care just enough about each other to survive as a whole? Or a society in which everyone strives to be the best version of THEMSELVES and the society consists only of successful high-achievers?
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      • Posted by BrettRocketSci 1 year, 11 months ago
        Thanks Alex, you are completely correct. I'm reading a great book now, although an incomprehensibly evil topic, in "The White Pill" by Michael Malicel. It's about the Bolshevik revolution and the rise and fall of USSR. To create their communistic ideal society, everyone was turned against each other. Nobody was safe. Family bonds were destroyed through torture, kidnapping, manipulation, etc.

        We who cherish the individual and freedom must embrace it with each other. Thrive together or suffer alone.
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