John Galt

John Henry Galt was an American businessman, inventor, political philosopher, and convicted felon. Galt was born in 1911 in Springwood, Ohio, the son of Henry M. Galt, Jr., a garage mechanic who was himself the grandson of Henry M. Galt, Sr., the former wealthiest man in America and the owner of the Great Midwestern Railroad from 1893 to 1904, when President Heeza Liar's trust-busting finally eliminated it for monopolistic tendencies. While the Galts remained affluent, John Galt growing up was acutely aware of the riches that had, in his view, been unfairly snatched from his family and by age 12–seeing his father as a failure for not working to achieve similar financial heights as his now-deceased grandfather–Galt left home to make his own way in the world. He attended Patrick Henry University in Virginia from 1927 to 1930, graduating at the age of 19 during the height of the Great Depression. Galt managed to make ends meet during this time by working for the Twentieth Century Motor Company, where he advanced rapidly by making improvements to the engine of cars produced by said company, culminating in a revolutionary internal engine that used ambient static electricity to provide power. In 1934, a strike occurred across many of the Twentieth Century Motor Company's factories, bringing production to a halt until the company's CEO Oliver Warbucks agreed to increase pay and benefits for employees. Galt, who up until this time had been a good personal friend of Warbucks, took this as an affront as his own salary remained largely unchanged and he would immediately quit as a result, accusing Warbucks of selling out to socialism.

Galt would found his own company in 1935, which initially struggled until the ascension of Buzz Windrip to the Presidency. The financial opportunity this provided involved Galt playing off multiple sides–while he objected to Windrip's politics personally, his company publicly was happy to play ball with his government to manufacture vehicles for use in repressing dissent and mobilising the military for war with Mexico. On the other hand, this public cooperation gave Galt access to intelligence he was willing to share with New Underground leaders such as Philip Dru and Stanley Craig–for a price. As a result, Galt was able to earn profits that, were it not for the dysfunction of the Corpo regime and a willingness to reward him for cooperation by the post-uprising government in 1938, would have seemed obviously suspicious. Still, Galt was consequently able to earn great riches, but remained politically isolated. Galt sought to change that by publishing a series of writings in what he dubbed the Galt Gazette, which was largely funded by contributions from industrialist Andrew Ryan. Other contributors to this publication included Baltimore Herald contributor E.K. Hornbeck, New York socialite Tom Buchanan and then-novice author Atlanta Hope. Circulation of the Gazette was limited at this time–Peter Varney's New Deal remained a popular set of policies even if aspects of his agenda had been hijacked by the Corpos–but were disproportionately read and agreed with by wealthier Americans.

World War II disrupted Galt's political activities, as the US shifted to a wartime footing and the country's attention focused on taking down the Axis Powers. Galt himself was not drafted owing to his company's manufacturing being a key supplier for the US military, which Galt made sure to provide adequate equipment for. For all his talk about individual sovereignty and hatred of the US government, the bulk of Galt's personal profits would come from government contracts during the war. While Galt supported and profited off of the Second World War, he was opposed to certain actions that occurred during and after–for instance, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and public propaganda praise for communist leaders like Ivan Karakhan and Peter Besstrashny for fighting against the fascists. Galt publicly expressed support for having the Justice Society of America press east after the fall of Germany to overthrow the USSR. When this failed, Galt set a new plan in motion: a strike of the 'productive class' to reassert property rights. The Galtist strike of 1946 emerged amidst a seeming ascendancy of economic interventionism–the rise of Rab Whitlow's Labour Party which practiced 'socialism with English characteristics', the birth of the communist Iron Curtain that stretched from East Germany to Arztotska and the enmeshed triumph of New Deal politics within the United States. Galt began using his Galt Gazette network to urge the wealthy to abandon the provision of capital to essential projects, which would bring society to a halt and force the end of 'global socialism and statism' in Galt's own words. Galt hired the disgraced but politically like-minded architect Howard Roark to build a compound within the Rocky Mountains for participants in the strike to take refuge in while awaiting what he believed would be an inevitable societal collapse.

Galt's strike would prove to be a short-lived disruption to the global economy rather than a world-order toppling revolution he intended. While he got a number of the wealthy onboard with his plan–steel magnate, Hank Rearden, the aforementioned Andrew Ryan, railroad owner Dagny Taggart, shrimp magnate Jim Meserve and a number of other prominent figures–the strike ultimately failed in part due to its short-lived nature. When rumours of the strike began, President Jefferson Smith (wishing to avoid a global economic depression) ordered FBI Director Henry Lux to investigate. Lux was able to uncover details about the timing of the strike, but was originally unable to determine where Galt and his followers intended to flee to. However, during his investigations, FBI Agent Nick Carter was able to convince Bedford Falls magnate Henry F. Potter, who originally was a sympathiser of Galt, to reveal the location of Galt's Gulch in return for immunity from any prosecution relating to the strike (as well as, allegedly, a payment of $2 million). With this information, after Galt announced his intentions, it did not take long for the FBI to swarm Galt's Gulch. Notably, Galt was one of only a few participants actually arrested–most of the would-be strikers, on getting word of an impending FBI raid, abandoned the Gulch to its fate, leaving Galt and a small core of followers to face criminal prosecution. Galt ultimately was the only one who would face actual criminal charges–specifically on charges of sedition.

Galt was able to avoid the maximum penalty for this accusation thanks to hiring a strong team of defence lawyers led by Chicago attorney Billy Flynn. The charge of sedition proved to be hard to make stick as Flynn and Galt highlighted that Galt was a strong defender of the US Constitution as originally written and thus accusations that he was advocating the overthrow of the US government were invalid. In the end, the government reached a plea deal with Galt in 1947–Galt confessed to lesser charges and was sentenced to house arrest for 2 years. Galt was notably not barred from writing and as a result his Galt Gazette once again resumed circulation, this time largely self-funded. In the postwar era, Galt's writings were much more well-received as Americans became more and more scared of communism. By the time his house arrest concluded in 1949, Galt had a following among elements of the far-right. Senator Johnny Iselin openly argued that Galt had been the victim of a 'vast communist conspiracy' within the government, basing this accusation on the revelation that US Justice Department official Mike Thingmaker had been revealed to be a Soviet spy and played a major role in the prosecution of Galt. Galt thus found himself as a decently-influential figure within the Republican Party, albeit one who remained fringe. Galt would mount an unsuccessful bid for US House of Representatives in Indiana in 1950 and in 1952 served as a delegate for the 'Old Right' Ohio Senator Noah Grace during his contest for the Republican nomination with General David Kamperhaufe.

After Grace's defeat at the 1952 Republican convention and the death of Senator Iselin, Galt would step back from electoral politics. He continued to write actively, even publishing several books, the most notable of which were The Machinery of Freedom and The Virtue of Selfishness, which both sought to flesh out his ideas. Galt advocated for a government that allowed for individualism to the maximum and encouraged people, even in the 'statist status quo', to embrace what he called rational self-interest, which he freely admitted was what most would call 'selfishness.' Galt denounced altruism as antithetical to freedom. Galt, in 1957, was approached by his old partner Andrew Ryan about joining him in forming the underwater community of Rapture. Galt refused, likely out of jealousy at Ryan attempting in a subtler manner what Galt had tried and failed to do in the previous decade. Galt would draw a decent personal following in the 1960's, which included his old Gazette contributor Atlanta Hope, newcomer author Carson Sand, Scottish-American media mogul Logan Roy and vigilantes Rex Graine and Walter Josef Kovacs. Galt also remained popular with the ascending conservative movement and a notable attack ad used by Leslie McCloud's 1964 campaign against Dixiecrat-turned-Republican Senator Beauregard Claghorn made use of Galt's endorsement as a tool to further claims of Claghorn being an extremist. Galt's hard-right standpoints, naturally, made him hated by the youth counterculture of the late 1960's. When far-left rock musician Max Foster managed to win the 1968 election and began using the suede-denim secret police to round up dissidents, Galt was among those targeted and dosed with heavy amounts of LSD. While Galt outlived the Foster administration, it was not by much and Galt would die of a heart attack in October of that year.

Galt's death would not be the end of his influence, however–far from it. Galt's acolytes continued to promote his ideas well beyond his death. In the 1980's, Galtist ideas gained a second life among yuppie capitalists who began to come to prominence during the administration of Ronald Webster (who was more often referred to as his most popular character from his time in Hollywood, Johnny Cyclops). Businessman Gordon Gekko cited Galt's ideas as a major influence behind his 'greed is good' viewpoint, which in turn was used to justify flouting federal regulations on the financial industry. More disturbingly was Patrick Bateman's citing of Galtist ideas as a reason why he believed it was acceptable to commit acts of murder. Of course, not all of Galt's admirers engaged in lawbreaking of this nature. Indeed, even some quite well-respected business leaders–David Xanatos, Tony Stark and Daniel Clamp–cited Galt as an influence on their beliefs. Many self-identified libertarians continued to offer favourable analyses of Galt's thought and work. Economist Martin Vreeland cited Galt's actions as a model for libertarian activism after libertarian Republican candidate Cosmo Kramer failed to gain the 2008 presidential nomination. Galtist arguments played a role in Chief Justice Thomas Brankin's decision in the Shiawase Corporation v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission case, which critics contend has paved the way for rapid growth in megacorporate power over the past 20 years. Most would argue that Galt's ideas played a key role in said megacorporations' increasing abandonment of any sense of ethics or responsibility, leading to such incidents as the creation of Equisapiens by WorryFree, lax safety protocols leading to a robot uprising at the Westworld theme park, and the rise of exploitative reality television that endangers contestants such as Total Drama, Rollerball, and The Running Man.