Going Galt

{{uspolitics}}

{{cquote|me and a bunch of stupid assholes are going to start a community in the middle of the desert to either die or prove a very important point
|||wint<ref>https://twitter.com/dril/status/435373709344251904 archived https://archive.ph/pKOpb</ref>}}

"'''Going Galt'''" is a [[right-wing]] fantasy that if you impose any kind of regulation on the rich, they will simply give up making money and go live in a hole eating dirt. It completely ignores the fact that most rich people are rich because they like running businesses, engaging in deals, and generally making money.<ref group=note>And in at least some cases, screwing over the working class.</ref> The name derives from the writings of [[Ayn Rand]], an imaginative but eccentric Russian-American novelist and darling of [[Argumentum ad cellarium|basement-dwelling]] [[libertarian]]s.

It became a catchphrase for right-wing bloggers to describe a fantasy response to changes in American [[tax]] policy proposed by former President [[Barack Obama]]. The idea is that having to pay 4.9% more in taxes on income above $250,000 per year constitutes such an intolerable burden that affected people should deliberately cut back on their business to lower their income to $249,999 per year (which is truly indicative of how little they understand the American tax bracket system), or flee the [[United States|U.S.]] altogether.<ref>[http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/ask-dr-helen-is-it-time-to-go-john-galt/ "Ask Dr. Helen: Is It Time to ‘Go John Galt’?"] Oh, [[Pajamas Media|Pajamas]]...</ref>

It is largely promoted by idiots who can't do [[math]] (or can't be bothered to), and by scaremongers [[Charlatan|trying to take advantage of those idiots]].

==Who is John Galt?==
As the name implies, this is inspired by the "hero" John Galt of [[Ayn Rand]]'s [[Objectivism|Objectivist]] doorstopper, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', who [[Terrorism|destroys civilization]] to avoid paying taxes.<ref>[http://bradhicks.livejournal.com/393124.html "Atlas Shrugged 2: Shrug Harder"]</ref> They apparently think this is a good idea, and hope to follow in his footsteps.

In the novel, John Galt declared his opposition to collectivism by starting a community called Galt's Gulch.{{efn|Not to be confused with [[Galt's Gulch, Chile]], a laughable libertarian failure.}}<ref group=note>Ayn Rand also had an organization of devoted followers.</ref> He expressed his opposition to [[Trade union|organized labor]] by organizing (what else?) a [[Irony|strike]]; the original working title of the book, incredibly enough, was ''The Strike''. In the story, Galt's (and the other capitalists who join him) withdrawal causes society to collapse, so those who threaten this in real life obviously have an inflated sense of their importance to society.

In [[reality|real life]], there are, coincidentally, a number of people named John Galt, such as notable Scottish novelist {{wpl|John Galt (novelist)|John Galt|,}} who was the first to write a biography of {{wpl|Lord Byron}} and tried and failed to colonize Upper Canada, and actor John William Galt, who voiced Lo Wang in the 1997 video game {{wpl|Shadow Warrior (1997 video game)|''Shadow Warrior''|.}} In reality, though, Rand's Galt was likely based her husband, Frank O'Connor,<ref>"Who Was John Galt? The Creation of Ayn Rand's Ultimate Ideal Man" by Shoshana Milgram (2009) in ''Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged''. Edited by Robert Mayhew. (2009) Lexington Books. ISBN 0739127799</ref>{{rp|56}} who is obviously not named John Galt.{{cn|joke}}

==How it usually ends up==
Eric Dondero, a man deemed too crazy for the [[Ron Paul]] campaign, has proposed going Galt, going so far as to recommend people should ''quit their jobs'' if they work for a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] voter.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20130117002633/http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html The end of liberty in 'Merca!]</ref> So much for [[capitalism]], eh?

In practice, though, if anyone has actually gone Galt, it's had no measurable effect. As a result, the usual response to a Galt-going threat is "so go already". In 2013, however, a [[Galt's Gulch, Chile|Galt's Gulch in Chile]] was announced by [[anarcho-capitalism|anarcho-capitalist]] Jeff Berwick.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150507050327/http://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2013/5/27/ayn-rands-vision-of-galts-gulch-has-become-reality-as-of-tod.html "Ayn Rand's Vision of Galt's Gulch Has Become Reality as of Today"]</ref> You too can reserve a spot today (Unless you're a dirty [[collectivist]], that is)! Turns out all is not well in Rand's realized capitalist paradise &mdash; seems good old-fashioned [[greed]] got in the way of idealism.<ref>Gawker.com: [http://archive.ph/http://gawker.com/ayn-rands-capitalist-paradise-is-now-a-greedy-land-grab-1627574870 archive.ph], [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://gawker.com/ayn-rands-capitalist-paradise-is-now-a-greedy-land-grab-1627574870 web.archive.org] "Ayn Rand's Capitalist Paradise Is Now a Greedy Land-Grabbing Shitstorm"</ref>

==Why it's not going to happen==
If you ask a left-winger, they'll tell you that business people like having power, making deals, crushing trade unions, appearing in Forbes magazine, going to galas, hanging out with celebrities, and preparing a Presidential bid. If you ask a right-winger, they'll tell you that business people like creating jobs, building businesses to pass on to their children, and making America great again. None of these things can be done while living up in a tree in the Amazon rain forest.

==Gone Galt?==
A number of US companies and individuals are already based abroad, or have [[tax haven|bank accounts]] in the Cayman Islands, [[Switzerland]], etc. Most of these are megarich people, not well-off wannabes. The results of dozens of corporations gone Galt can be seen in the US economy today.

As any U.S. passport will remind one, though, "All U.S. citizens working and residing abroad are required to file and report on their worldwide income." Expatriating citizens must have been tax compliant for the past five years and must pay exit taxes and fees before they can renounce their U.S. citizenship.<ref>http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/08/28/u-s-hikes-fee-to-renounce-citizenship-by-422/</ref>

On a happier note, some [[survivalist]]s who have disappeared into the wilds have done civilized society a great favor. Enjoy the undercooked bear burger, folks!<ref group=note>Assuming, of course, that the bear didn't eat ''you''.</ref>

==Fun fact==
The phrase is seldom if ever used in [[Scandinavia]], because in [[Sweden|Swedish]] ''galt'' means boar (male pig), while in [[Norway|Norwegian]] and [[Denmark|Danish]], it more specifically means a castrated one. Also, in the latter two languages, ''[[:wiktionary:galt#Norwegian Bokmål|galt]]'' is a form of the adjective for mad, or crazed, also used to say that something has gone wrong.{{efn|In Swedish, however, the same adjective form looks a little different: ''[[:wiktionary:galet#Swedish|galet]]'' instead of ''galt'' as in Norwegian and Danish.}} So if you announce you are going Galt, and a Swede looks confused or a Norwegian or Dane more worried, it's not because they feel the collapse of the socialist system approach.<ref group=note>Whatever you do, ''don't'' proclaim you're going Galt to a Swedish <u>The Legend of Zelda</u> fan while holding a trident.</ref>

==See also==
*[[The Citadel]]
*[[Galt's Gulch, Chile]]
*[[Libertarian paradise]]
*[[Men Going Their Own Way]], for the [[Men's rights movement|MRA]] version of this concept.
*[[Rapture]], for the [[supernatural]] [[woo]] version of this concept. Not to be confused with the city in ''{{wpl|BioShock}}'', a better supernatural woo version of this concept.
*[[Tax protester]]
*[[We Surround Them]]
*[[Seasteading]], one method of going Galt.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150414030908/http://www.whosjohngalt.net/ Who Is John Galt?] We don't know!
*[http://crookedtimber.org/2009/03/03/where-the-rawlsian-rubber-meets-the-randian-road/ Where the Rawlsian Rubber meets the Randian Road.]
*[http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017153.php Going Galt]
*[https://www.angryflower.com/348.html Bob the Angry Flower gives it a shot]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Objectivism]]
[[Category:Tax]]
[[Category:United States politics]]

Categories: Culture, Libertarianism, Objectivism, Tax, United States politics