Francisco's Money Speech (excerpt)
Posted by richrobinson 9 years ago to The Gulch: General
I have been listening to Atlas Shrugged during my commute to and from work. I just listened to Francisco's money speech and he was explaining how looters can cause a society to vanish into ruin. He then asks if that day is coming. This gave me chills. I think this explains our current situation.
"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.
"Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.
AS is not compatible with christianity regardless of how adept you are at doctrinal gymnastics.
I would tell them to slit their masters' throats when they are sleeping.
Nope, that means prison. Not a good Shrug.
To be perfectly honest, it's what I know. And there are other freedoms here that other countries don't have. And most of those countries owe that economic freedom to the mere existence of the US and if the US falls the power struggles around the world will leave no one safe. But if they decide to leave the country I will help them.
I still think the battle Must be won here. I still think it can be. And so far in my life, I have done very little to fight it. I'm just now learning how. Isn't it DB who keeps saying "it is the intellectual battle that must be won."?
20 thousand of us figuring it out. :)
Take the question literally now, though; How would you know if it is too late. I guess that implies that you don't know until it is too late. At this point my only escape plan is a blaze of glory.
My kids can move wherever they want to live after college.
If you wait until it is too late to be able to GTFO, then you have fed your oppressors for way too long, and you may not be able to execute your escape plan. According to several Venezuelan students of mine, for many wishing to flee Venezuela, it is too late now.
If you were an engineer, you would design conservatively. Likewise you should plan your escape.
When I first asked that I was referring to what point would mean it's too late to be able GTFO?
I have told my children that there may come a time that they would have to buy their way out of the country and they needed to be prepared for that. They are just now making their way out into the world and I know that I could not leave them here to deal with what I could not. Also, to my knowledge, this country still offers the best chance for them to make a good life so there is no better place to send them. I guess that means to me it is still to early.
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