What If. . . ?

In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s bold assertion was that without the people who possess the money, talent, and ideas to keep the economy humming along, it would surely die a quick, ignominious death because all that would be left would be consumers. And consumers don't produce.

Perhaps, it’s finally time for the Engine of the World to turn off the ignition switch.

Wealth, after all, is a fungible commodity, and talent and ideas are intangible by nature. What I’m proposing is that life imitate art and that those of use who drive the global economy show the rest of us just what would happen if — for a time — the engine were to sputter to a halt.

What would happen?

Rand’s thousand-page tome is a pretty fair description of the consequences of such an event. I don’t need to repeat here in much less eloquent language what she wrote more than 50 years ago.

However, if I may be permitted my own take on the subject, this is what it might look like in a very different world, a half-century later. 

A general slowdown would take place almost immediately. The recent credit crisis and stock market crash would pale in comparison. Wall Street, again, would be blamed for it, as would George W. Bush.

The Internet would be ablaze with speculation about who, what, when, where, and why, making this political season look like a tea party with a bunch of little old ladies.

It wouldn’t be Wall Street’s fault or, for that matter, GWB’s. Traders at the NYSE would be standing around with nothing to do because the ones with the money — let’s call them investors — would not be calling back with buy orders after their initial orders to sell their assets.

Accordingly, stocks would drop; not like a cat from a high perch, landing on its feet, but like a little, old, osteoporotic lady. And when she meets the ground at terminal velocity, her every bone will be shattered.

Businesses of all sizes will begin to feel the effects of the engine seizing up, but small businesses will be the first to fail for lack of sales. The bloodbath of jobs will begin at the bottom and quickly work its way to the Fortune 500 where it will stain the landscape red.

Travel will come to a standstill. As will trade. Food and fuel production will come to a halt. Shortages, after a short time, would be widespread.

Liberals will alternate between screaming for the government to “do something” and begging for the wealthy, the talented, the brightest among us, to have mercy, to demanding that Congress seize the assets of anyone not investing, and make the talented and bright people “give up the goods,” so to speak, a kind of intellectual slavery.

This is not the same America I grew up in, my friends; not by a longshot.

Because capital will dry up, everything we take for granted as a part of everyday life will come to a halt.

The price of fuel will probably plummet due to lack of demand. No jobs, no work, no income, no money for gas. Within a couple months of this, people will begin leaving their cars at home and taking mass transit, riding bicycles, or walking. Only there won’t be anywhere to go because businesses will start shuttering en masse. Why? Because they don’t have the capital to buy goods wholesale.

Within a year, we could be seeing breadlines and soup kitchens again. A stunned look of incredulity will wash across the faces of everyone you see in public.

Suicides will be rampant; so will murder-suicides because breadwinners won’t be able to care for their families.

But this is what it may take to wake the American public from its slumber. We have been sleepwalking far too long and we’ll soon walk off a cliff if we don’t awaken.

We may yet have to go through a purge to get over the binge of buying into the dystopian nightmare the Democrats, the liberals, the leftists, the socialists, the Marxists have been slowly foisting on the public as “economic justice” all in the name of "fairness."

Before it comes to that, what we need to do is rid ourselves of these vermin. While we still can.

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Postscript: This is one of the most powerful videos I've seen this election season. Please take 2 minutes to watch it.

In The Toilet

Yesterday, three weeks from Election Day, my dear friend, Jeramy, wrote in response to my last blog entry:

I have been responding to you all afternoon...mentally. Now all I can say in response is that the Bush jr. administation [sic] has been the biggest fiasco in American History. Anyone that wants to replace it with anything that even remotely resembles it is either sound asleep or has his head so far up his own ass that only a serious laxative can extract it. Head for the toilet on Nov. 4 !

I love ya, Jay. But you're so very wrong about your misplaced loyalty to "The One." The media's favorite messiah is only going to put us into a tailspin from which we may not recover.

If you recall from your American History classes. . . after the crash of '29, Hoover immediately raised taxes and enacted protectionist legislation -- the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.  Raising tariffs was one of the worst things that could have been done at that point. This is exactly what Obama wants to do -- raise taxes on the "evil rich" and enact protectionist legislation to "save American jobs."

FDR came in after Hoover, promising to balance the budget and to keep his hands off the economy. That didn't last long. FDR expanded on Hoover's policies and shortly added some of his own to the mix, including the Davis-Bacon Act, which established the requirement for paying prevailing wages on public works projects. That and several other policies suffered from the same problems that Hoover's programs did:  they reduced price flexibility, and often set minimum prices that made the Great Depression not so great after all. 

FDR's widely worshipped (by liberals) New Deal policies seemed to work at first; the economy began to expand again in 1933 and continued through the spring of 1937. At that point, a second depression began and lasted until June of 1938. It wasn't until WWII began (for the U.S.) in 1941 that the depression was officially pronounced dead.

Here's some enlightening reading, if you're interested:

"In an article in the August [2004] issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Lee E. Ohanian and Harold L. Cole blame specific anti-competition and pro-labor measures that Roosevelt promoted and signed into law June 16, 1933.

"[The] two UCLA economists say they have figured out why the Great Depression dragged on for almost 15 years, and they blame a suspect previously thought to be beyond reproach: President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"After scrutinizing Roosevelt's record for four years, Cole and Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years."

Your candidate wants to tax the very people who provide the jobs for this economy. Obama wants to "spread the wealth" -- a tenet of the Marxist philosophy so vaunted by the Left -- as he very casually said to a pissed off plumber questioning Obama about his tax policies just the other day at a rally.

Obama is the furthest left candidate of a major party ever to run for president. And his policies will not be good for this country. On the contrary.

Though the Bush administration has proved disappointing on many fronts -- yes, even to me -- it's been far from the "fiasco" you and many of your fellow libs claim it has been. You seem to conveniently forget about Jimmy Carter and 22% interest rates and gas lines. Another Democrat, Harry Truman, was also vilified before he left office; he had an approval rating of 21% -- lower than Bush's. History, however, has treated him more kindly. I'm sure that neither of us will be around to hear how historians one day will give Bush much better grades than the mainstream media does today.

I suppose if by "anything that remotely resembles it" you mean any Republican president -- regardless of his/her experience, policies, or basic principles -- then, yes, I do plan on supporting John McCain and voting for him on Nov. 4th.

However, I am neither sound asleep nor do I have my head up my ass. I did once -- actually, three times -- when I voted for McGovern, Carter, and Dukakis. But never again.

Maybe you should actually spend a little time studying what Obama really believes, what his policies are (if you can find them), and look into his track record. That is, if you can find a track record because, it doesn't take much to discover that he is a man of very little accomplishment. He's good at voting "Present" when it's time to take a stand; he has very poor judgment when it comes to the people he associates with (e.g., Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, and Bill Ayers); and he's a student' of the far, far left. To say he's a closet socialist is not stretching the truth at all. In fact, if fits him like a glove.

But, alas, it looks as if your guy may indeed win the election; though I'm far from ready to concede the race yet. When (or if) he does I will be spending some time at the toilet -- retching at the thought of the next four years and how we may never recover as a nation.

The More I Learn About Obama. . .

The more I learn about Barack Obama, the less I like him. . . and I didn't much like him to begin with.

Why? Because he's an empty shirt. He's arrogant. His associations are, at the very least, highly questionable. He not only has no accomplishments worth putting on a presidential resumé, he expects people to worship and adore him.

I'm really quite scared three weeks or so before the election. The poll numbers don't look good for McCain and though I support him with every fiber of my being, he's got another debate to go through and he's just not a very good debater. Smart guy. Sticks to the talking points way too much in critical situations -- like a debate.

If he doesn't unload both barrels in the next debate, reload and keep firing, Obama is going to win this election in a cakewalk and we will have the most far-left government in the history of this country. And the public are so ignorant of the consequences of what that means that they are salivating at the thought of a bigger government, huge restrictions on free speech, and an increase in taxes on the very people who can save this economy -- small business owners.

We will be less safe from attacks on our nation because the safeguards we put in place will be destroyed. We'll give enemy combatants rights they don't deserve. And we'll simply be more complacent, less vigilant than we are now.

The latest accusation about Barack Obama is that not only was he "palling around" with Bill Ayers, there is some interesting, though inconclusive, evidence that shows a very strong likelihood that Ayers actually ghostwrote Dreams From My Father.

Is this allegation true? I don't know. The accusation doesn't seem to come from left. . . or, right. . . field. If the investigation's methodology is valid, I think it's worth a second look. I've made no decision so far.

Taken as a whole, the life of Barack Hussein Obama -- yeah, yeah, I know it's politically incorrect to use his middle name -- is not that remarkable. I know several people who exceed his accomplishments and for whom I'd much rather cast a ballot.

I really hope you'll think twice about what grave consequences await this nation if we elect Obama president. John McCain is a man of integrity and grit and even though I may disagree with him on some issues, he's not likely to send this country down the drain.

Obama would only lead the leftward lurch into oblivion for the USA. Don't let that happen. Vote for John McCain on Nov. 4th.