Who IS John Galt?
November 2, 2009
During our recent road trip, from Long Island, New York, to Orlando, Florida, with the last of our cats, I saw the most intriguing billboard on the right side of the road. It was in South Carolina, a few miles before the Georgia state border.
I was driving and I just happened to see it out of the corner of my eye. Big and an ash brown color, with giant white letters, it baldly quoted the first line of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged: ” Who is John Galt?”
Nothing else. No admonitions. No reference to the book. No other ads, or instructions of any kind. Just that quotation, as if that should be enough.
Needless to say, I was interested. This was the only such billboard I had seen on the entire trip. All by itself. Why? I wondered. Well, of course, the first thing I thought of was that this was the work of some renegade group who didn’t much care for the kind of “Hope and Change” that it’s turning out to be. A view with which I am mucho sympatico.
But, no other comments, no instructions, no website. Very odd. Still, it made me reflect on the giant themes in Ayn Rand’s masterpiece. These are the values that animate the entire novel and made it the second most influential book ever written, after the Bible.
These include the paramount importance of the sovereign individual, of private property rights, of the concept of just rewards for hard work, the nobility of integrity and how the collective will always try to steal the natural birthright of the individual creator, justifying its predations by the “need” of the many. More than just a manifesto for individual rights, it is a paen to the morality of capitalism and the virtue of “selfishness:” value received, for value given.
And boy, do we need a dose of this now, more than ever. Along with our Founders, Ms. Rand must be spinning in her grave, with all that’s going on today.
If you’ve never read this book, you owe it to yourself to do so. Oh yeah, the characters all speak in speeches (sometimes, very LONG speeches) and the language is dated; the narrative is a product of its time. But the concepts are timeless and true and a perfect antidote for the “spread the wealth” crap with which we’re being inundated, today.
Ayn Rand was born in Russia, saw the evils of collectivism first hand, with the Bolsheviks, escaped to the USA and became the implacable enemy of collectivist philosophy, in all its many guises. Her entire life was spent lauding the morality and the fundamental fairness of capitalism and individualism. And as someone who lived under both systems, she makes a persuasive champion for the American Way (or what used to be the American Way). She considered America to be the best country in the world.
If you HAVE read it before, maybe it’s time to revisit it. And this time, PAY ATTENTION! What she predicted is coming to pass before our very eyes, almost exactly.
In between chapters, you can knock out a few of the body weight knee pain exercises in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM, which you can get here at:
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
Combine those squat variations, modified for those who have, or wish to avoid knee pain, and stretches, with my ultra pure, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade, highly concentrated omega-3 fish oil, DR. BILL’S POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA
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and you have a pain relieving combination, not to mention a great foundation for health, that’s pretty hard to beat!
So go back and read it again, or for the first time. It’s a worthwhile investment and even if you don’t agree with all her precepts, it will at least make you think.
So, who IS the John Galt of today? And more important, WHERE is he, now that we REALLY need him? Guess we’ll see… Til next time, my friend, be well.
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
Dr. Bill
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise,
but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for
treating knee pain, go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE
KNEE PAIN, please go to http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to
relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO
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causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too,
go to http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
Copyright, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
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