Chris Berry On The Net

I’ve always had a perverse admiration for the philosophy of Ayn Rand, in spite of the fact that her unwavering belief in pure economic Darwinism would be considered draconian by most diehard libertarians. She was not a great writer, but she had an uncanny ability to demonstrate the folly of large scale government interference with the workings of the free market.

Atlas Shrugged describes the fictional collapse of the global economy as a result of the nationalization of the world’s productive enterprises. I was reminded of one of my favorite passages from the book yesterday while listening to various politicians talking about the need for more government intervention to solve the problems in the global financial markets. Their continued calls for action come in spite of the fact that the meltdown is a largely a result of their own corruption and incompetence. The situation we face today and the solutions proposed by our leaders are eerily similar to the book.

Democrats and Republicans alike continue to demand more government spending, without waiting to see the results of the $1.3 trillion we’ve already thrown at the problem. To top it off, both presidential candidates act as if this unprecedented and unbudgeted expenditure will have no impact on their plans if elected. Senators Obama and McCain both continue to promise tax cuts and costly new government programs. The only conclusion we can draw from this behavior is that they are both fools, or they believe that we are.

When the fictional politicians in the book finally realize that their actions have had a disastrous impact, they attempt to force the industrialist hero John Galt to take over the economy to save them from themselves. Galt refuses, but the politicians take to the airways to reassure the country that the Galt Plan will be their salvation. Of course there is no plan, but it’s easy to imagine their empty promises coming from either of our presidential candidates.

“The John Galt plan will reconcile all conflicts. It will protect the property of the rich and give a greater share to the poor. It will cut down the burden of your taxes and provide you with more government benefits. It will lower prices and raise wages. It will give more freedom to the individual and strengthen the bonds of collective obligations. It will combine the efficiency of free markets with the generosity of a planned economy”

“Don’t you ever again, any of you, start doubting or running or giving up! Tomorrow is here today—and what a tomorrow! With three meals a day for everyone on earth, with a car in every garage, and with electric power given free, produced by some sort of a motor the like of which we’ve never seen! And all you have to do is just be patient a little while longer! Patience, faith and unity—that’s the recipe for progress!”

At this point we can only hope that the next step won’t be something along the lines of Directive 10-289.