What if Galt's Gulch was visible?
Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 1 month ago to The Gulch: General
What if we did set up our own Galts Gulch? We welcomed the best and the brightest and the hardest workers from all walks of life. Instead of being hidden in a valley, however, it is out in plain site. A state inside the US for example that succeeds from the union. Would we have to build a wall? Would the Federal government allow us to exist? Would neighboring States cause problems?
There is one author that has attempted it recently using a built up reef system like China is presently attempting in the S. China Sea. But that artificial island nation depends on radical weaponry for defense, a contract between the existing residents of the island and any new-comer, and the negative costs to any other that might wish to try to overpower the island. But again, it's a literary device.
For now and the foreseeable future, Objectivists’ energies could be put to much more productive use exploring how local Objectivist networks can be started, nurtured and grown into viable and vibrant societies within the existing fabric of political boundaries. The practicality is there. As noted by term2, doing some of the things religions do offer a blueprint for one way to promote activities and interactions that Objectivists within a reasonable distance would value. I shouldn’t have to mention it, but, of course, I’m not suggesting religion as a philosophical model, but as an organizational model. Perhaps social organizations like the Elks Club, VFW, etc. are a better organizational model.
Such a network would be visible – as visible as any church, business, or social organization. Any fears of the IRS or marauding Baptists coming to shut you down are just as fanciful as waiting for the real Galt’s Gulch to appear. If Mosques aren’t being shut down, neither will your local Objectivist meeting hall.
Having such a local organization, of course, does not allow one to escape existing taxes, unreasonable laws and ordinances and other oppressions and annoyances of municipal, county, state and federal entities. You might say, “well, then what is the point of doing so?” If we, as participants in local Objectivist networks, put as much time and effort into nurturing our own society-within-a-society (including overturning or doing end runs around oppressive laws) as we do in dreaming about the fantasy of a geographically distinct gulch (presumably set up by someone else?) we would be making concrete progress toward the kind of society we would like eventually to actually live in.
Objectivists have to make a choice: continue fantasying about a gulch or actually devising plans to find ways that promote interactions of all kinds with nearby Objectivists. The possibilities are limitless. Is anybody doing it?
And your intriguing comment.
http://pledge.freestateproject.org/fs...
It wouldn't be a State and State laws would be in effect but day-to-day would be controlled by the people of the community and the local authorities.
Its possible.
It would take quite a lot of Objectivists to accomplish anything but then, if you managed to get that many together in one state, I would expect to see some pretty ingenious ways come up to choke out the fedgov. And you might get a long way with it before you were really noticed and targeted.
And even if the "best and the brightest and hardest workers from all walks of life" gather in one place, how could there possibly be enough of them to create anywhere near the same standard of living the vast majority of them already "enjoy" where they are presently located?
Only a collapse of the system will "allow" a gulch to exist, and then it had better not be visible.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hi...
It would be interesting to know what the South had that the North wanted. It obviously wasn't the slaves, which the South (in general) wanted to keep.
Lincoln was opposed to slavery, but the main reason he went to war was to preserve the Union.
Also, if you move out of the US, I believe you would be hard pressed to get more than a handful of Gulchers to make that move. It may not be storybook perfection, remaining in the US, but it does most likely offer the best deal. You could live, create and operate as Objectivists in relative obscurity. So, unless you plan to run drugs, produce moonshine and engage in illegal gambling you would have nothing of interest to anyone. If it is an end of society scenario (Walking Dead) then repercussions would be felt eventually around the world.
Rich, "hiding in plane sight" is exactly what it states. If you develop land and build housing and infrastructure- there is nothing unusual about this. New technology in solar energy, battery powered and stored energy (Tesla) and wind systems along with water recycling systems are becoming more dependable and affordable. You would have grid services but you would plan for a fully independent system, off the grid, without advertising it- call it a "green energy-saving backup system" that nobody outside really needs to know about. Your land development comes with a contained perimeter -a wall with top of the line security systems.
Since it is inconsequential, you do not state your philosophy or your reasons. You have your investors- nothing unusual. You decide how you will sell property rights in your development and to whom. Now, here is where you would need to carefully plan your internal strategy. For example, there are specific laws for different types of housing. For example, a 55+ condominium in a community has certain legal privileges. You could make part or all of your housing development a "Co-op" which legally owns title to the property and the structures where home owners are actually stockholders and are issued stock certificates. And the Association is the legal entity. This gives everyone voting rights in all decisions. Your development should consider having various combinations, e.g., single family homes, town houses, condominiums and rental apartments (for visiting family members and Gulchers who cannot stay full time or want to rent instead of own). You could also develop a commercial annex next door or down the road. Where businesses, and services would be located. There are many reasons as to why you would want the commercial-business complex to be separate from the residential.
The more I read of other peoples' thoughts, the more I think the statists would do whatever it takes to kill off the idea. I am thinking that if it were visible it would have to be run like an underground or black market economy. A facade of phony storefronts and the like would have to be maintained as well as two sets of books. Everyone's Gulch business would have to be run out of the back room like a speakeasy, with a storefront only for show and outsiders. Out in the open would mean that a certain amount of compliance and interaction with the general public and its officials would have to be maintained in order to avoid scrutiny. Trading among Gulchers would require secrecy, special codes and currency. The problem is that too often "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." - Benjamin Franklin. The Gangsters managed during prohibition to some degree because of fear of death/retribution. Non- initiation of force kind of puts a monkey wrench in the scenario. Ultimately the Feds even got Capone, though they had to nail him on tax evasion. The same could easily be envisioned for defiant Gulch members.
If there was a massive movement of citizens willing to defy the government, I suppose they could use Cloward and Piven strategies to overwhelm the government system and initiate a collapse. They can't arrest and incarcerate too many of us, unless those detainment centers we keep hearing about are designed for such an insurrection. However, there are now so many citizens on the dole and willing to be dominated as long as the handouts keep coming that this scenario seems unlikely. There no longer seems to be enough citizens with the philosophy of independence to be swayed by truths like those set out in Paine's Common Sense. Propaganda perfected, is now the preeminent tool of the statists and the individualist is at a disadvantage. Envy, egalitarianism, altruism and statism is winning. Hence our present state of affairs.
If the Gulch could exist in the open, it would have to come about by legitimate means, like overwhelming a sovereign nation with enough new inhabitants to vote in their preferred governance. Many believe this is the endgame of open borders. Of course, in our case the political system the migrants bring is not considered superior and yet the affects are already being felt.
Of course we could all read AJAshinoff's book (Shadows Live Under Seashells) and consider life on Mars... I doubt such a settlement is within reach during my lifetime, but that is a scenario where it could be carried out in plain sight. Perhaps the Moon... It is a dream. :)
Respectfully,
O.A.
Reinvents the American Revolution on the Moon. Full of liberty ideas and basically RAH's idea of a libertarian society.
I like it. :) The short story "Lone Star Planet"- H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire, is also an interesting read about a space colony set up based on old school Texas justice and society. The Republic of Texas didn't know how good they had it.
Regards,
O.A.
Religious groups have tried it, and when they get to a certain size, they are attacked by the feds for some "infraction" and shut down.
Probably the biggest of the private societies would be the mormons in salt lake city. Its a booming area up there due to the work and financial and family ethic of the mormons, but its done quietly and under the cover of "religion"- which helps them avoid federal involvement because of the "religious freedom" part of the constitution. Maybe a new religion should be started which happens to adopt Objectivist principles, and go that way.
A gulch would have to be distributed into relatively small "cells" to minimize detection
Personally, I don't see most of them that way, at least the one's that I would consider supporting. Many hold Christian beliefs but I believe they strongly support an individuals right to choose a religion or none at all. What am I missing?
Ed
Should there exist a haven well, the minute it goes public is the moment of it´s own demise. Somethings are better left unsaid.
Thus any open "Gulch" would need to be on non-US territory. And preferably sovereign (which likely means either taking over some small poor country or arranging a lease similar to Hong Kong's former arrangement).
Years ago I heard of a plan for libertarians to move to one state (I think Vermont was targeted) and elect themselves to offices of control and implement libertarian ideas. Don't know the status of the plan.
Since Jeanne Shaheen, NH has gone decidedly left.
Point of interest: There is no such thing as not living in a town or city as far as taxes are concerned. When you register your car you write 2 checks, one to the town and one to the state. Each year, each town has its budget meeting to prioritize spending for the following year. Some towns, to emphasize education, for example, leave their streets unpaved. But the schools have been taken over by the left. For my daughter's 10th birthday in Hampton, I brought a pizza to school so she could have a little lunch party with her friends and me. I was immediately stopped by the principal who said that would be unfair to all the poor kids who didn't have nice parents. So we ate alone in a private room.
I have been seriously looking at acquiring some acreage near here and building a commune of home-schoolers on it. I'd literally have these families I know design/build their own homes. I can engineer the water and sewer, design PV with storage, work out the power/phone connects. I'd design a build a small, state-of-the-art school house. But, in the back of my mind is this issue of government wanting to crack into it. We'd be doing nothing wrong: raising chickens, going to our jobs in the city, educating our kids. But...that could be a problem in today's environment, especially in a blue state. I do have interest from several other families. The interest is entirely in raising our kids to be smart and strong. It's getting so hard to do that in our society now.
I'd name it "Atlantis", or "Mulligan's Hill...."
Of course hoarding food (aka: having an emergency or a one year supply) is not only unpatriotic, under the ACA it will be considered a symptom of mental illness (if it isn't already) and no doubt grounds for "hospitalization" and "reeducation" (probably at a FEMA camp).
But...in the grand scheme we (you, me, the kids) are all the real livestock in this picture. Imagine a farmer's reaction if a group of cows decided to break through the fence and start their own barn, free from slaughter.
Discussions and calculations continue...
It is the most "rewarding" physical labor I have ever done.
PS: The "Casa Rosa" is the house I built in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico. I lived there from 2000-2006, but as Sayulita became a major tourist destination I thought it was time to head further south...much further.
The white house in the photos is LeCorbusier's Villa Savoye near Paris. I think it would be the "ideal" house in which to Go Galt in Argentina, at least at my present location. I first saw a photo of it in Janson's History of Art when I was a student at Illinois State in the early 70's and have wanted to live in a house of the same design since then.
The best thing about "Going Galt" in Argentina is that I can live as I please, the government is not intrusive in the least , and everyone is friendly and helpful (and I do mean everyone!)...at least where I live.
it's a question of changing your life style and with that your location, USA is not the whole world.
The gulch is a state of mind what you do with that information gained is your decision. This site just tries to give you the freedom of reason and choice. Most shackles are ones you put on yourself. Strike them off!
defense system! . eeeeevvvvvvverrrryyyone wants something
for nothing, and we'd have something they'd want!!!
in my humble, the only hope is the secession of a
huge group of States who would -- in effect -- hold
the rest for ransom with their goods and services withdrawn,
just like Rand envisioned, except geographical. . you might
want to consider my most recent edit:::
http://www.amazon.com/Unsustainable-T...
the "flyover" States secede from the union and get changes to
their successor U.S.A. constitution accepted by the rest
of the States. . far-fetched? . you decide, OK? -- j
.
.
The thing is, the United States itself used to be that very panacea. It had the correct underpinnings focused on freedom and liberty. It's just that over time, prosperity actually devalued the sacrifices of the Founding Fathers. It took the War of 1812 and then the Civil War to remind people of those values. Since then, however, America has only fought foreign wars. These insulate the general population from any true fight for freedom, enabling collectivist and populist cultures to creep in and establish a welfare state.
If it existed the first visitors would be county inspectors followed by property tax assessors followed by....followed by....followed by and the State with it's own alphabet soup not the lease of which would be head count for any children..
Find an island unowned by any government....
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