Your comments echo exactly my views. Especially your last paragraph. To think of all of who attacking us and on how many fronts, it tends to overwhelm and drain me of my mental focus and energy ~ the drive for life.

I agree with the idea of pulling back on productive effort ~ done that before and really didn't like it. It felt as if I wasn't being honest with who I am and my work ethic. The sick part of that is, it's exactly what one must do when living under the control of looters and moochers: you can't be who you really are and have to put on a mask of pretend. Pretending to be content when you're really not, pretending to stupid & aloof when you're intelligent and alert...basically splitting yourself just to get by in this "utopia" the Libs believe they are creating. It reflects, I believe the mental/emotional conditions of Liberals: split.

For my family situation, shrugging means driving both of my cars even though one is nearly 200k miles and the other over 154k. I could get newer ones, but why? To give more $ to the State in taxes? Nope. I deny them.

Shrugging means taking my family of 4 and living in a 2-bedroom townhouse with no basement at an incredible rent price. Could I afford more & better? Absolutely. But then my $ goes to the utility companies (Obama did say Energy prices would have NECESSARILY skyrocket) and have less to spend on the essentials like food, gas, clothes, etc.

This is what I can do that's within my power. I can also influence those who are willing to listen and have the courage to face the truth, but those people are few and far between. But it only takes ONE person. One person can make a difference.

That's my .02. Oh yeah, there's about 12 inches of snow outside. :)

I'm finding that I'm somewhere between going Galt and Reardon with my business.

I'm actually launching a new business May 1 - www.ARGnetworks.com. It is an online TV network with all original programming.

The game of capitalism looked a certain way as I was growing up. Being married with three young boys, reading AS, turning 40, launching a new business in this economy - it looks different to me now. It looks more like a chess match, which makes me think of Francisco and his efforts to take down his own company.

In many ways, I still see the world with Reardon's perspective, one where the battle can still be waged. That is certainly true. I remain convinced that we have not yet hit a point of no return.
In other ways, I understand Francisco's methodology as well as Galt's.

Like Galt was called to stop the motor of the world, I'm called to build this media alternative and do my part to reshape culture and society using the same tools the rest of the media world employes to deceive.

I'm not shrugging, at least not by my definition. I'm fighting.

To address your last paragraph, LetsShrug, I'll tell you who I believe is worth talking to. I generally ask people if they've read AS. That alone can answer a lot. If they haven't, I ask them their thoughts on the place of capitalism in our modern society. The correct answers open the door to further engagement. The wrong answer means I take note to not waste time on someone who has been brainwashed into being a looter.

The third category includes the masses we will entertain with my shows. Shows which will have messages in favor of Capitalism and the greatness of our country woven throughout. It is through those shows I intend to have a broad impact on society. In the mean time, I'll gladly accept advertising dollars from advertisers whose values do not always line up with mine, although they value the eyeballs I can deliver. This part makes me feel a bit like Francisco. :)

There is a lot wrong in the world.

There is a lot right in the world.

What is right still needs a champion for that cause. I suppose that's why I still feel like I more readily identify with Hank than Galt. So for now, I will Go Reardon until I'm called to Go Galt.

To our respective success!

Tony
$

What is shrugging?
To me, it is the withdrawal of your productive effort from a corrupt country or world.
Beginning the Process.
Like you have said, it starts by acknowledging your country or World has become SO corrupt that the normal political process and its exposure in the media (today's term) have become ineffective. As well, the Rule of Law has become subverted. reason is no longer an accepted way to resolve disputes and you are left with force.
The Process:
How can you best maximize your happiness? How much does it bother you that you are aiding your enslavers? This is the intellectual part.
Execute a plan. Goal is to effect happiness, minimize the support given to corruption(this is not just a federal or state or even local govt level-this includes friends, family and neighbors advancing the corruption (unwitting or not)
As a result, answers for each person or family will be different, depending on resources-this includes skills, comfort zones, pleasure and happiness, philosophical beliefs, importance placed on geographic location, etc. (I am interested in other factors people have that I have not listed).
Review the plan often and make necessary changes as your knowledge increases. After all-many of us were born in a much freer country, and levels of contentment fluctuate depending on the factors listed above.
provocative post, LS-looking forward to the discussion in here

this is just my FAVORITE post in a very long time. and I DO NOT gush, LS

khalling asked me to post some answers over here she had from my introduction so I'll try and answer them.

I guess you could call it underachieving or laziness on my part. In school I quickly realised I could obtain a C with no effort at all and chose to use my time in areas that interested me instead of buckling down and studying. Each year after testing my Mother would tell me how the teachers would come to her and exclaim, "Do you know how smart your son is?" and "What are we doing wrong?"

As for how underachieving is like going Galt, I would say you could look to Dr. Hugh Akston working as a cook in a diner. The work he was doing to support himself is far below his abilities.

I have a self taught understanding of the law, an ability to be conscious of my surroundings (you may or may not be surprised how few are), an understanding of accounting and budgeting and a quick ability to ascertain important information from lengthy documents or writings. That C in school I was talking about usually came from F's in homework and A's on tests for that reason.

I have started to grow my own vegetables and learning which ones do best with the soil I have. Last year I started raising chickens and at this moment have hatched some chicks from eggs they laid and another batch in the incubator. Later I will be selling eggs and older laying hens as well as surplus vegetables.

What monies I have no immediate need for, I buy silver to hedge against inflation or to use and haggle a price down. I don't consider when I buy or sell something for old silver coins a specie payment, only that I negotiated a lower price. They are still US currency, aren't they?

I'm not a miner of gold but what would be called a recreational prospector. I did camp out one summer for 3 months in a National Forest and came back with a little gold. I could have made a lot more working any minimum wage job for the same amount of hours, but shoveling and shifting through the dirt was much more fun. If I was allowed to use better equipment than a shovel, pan and sluice box I'm sure I could have gotten a lot more. I did join the GPAA for a few years but that is as far as I went.

I don't see the choosing of the lesser evil to be worthwhile in politics. Also, my State and area are solidly 'RED' so I have no fear my vote would change the outcome. I did almost consider voting for Ron Paul the last election, but by the time the vote gets to Alabama the writing is usually on the wall of who will win a nomination.

The movies so far have been great and I'm anxiously awaiting the third one. I enjoyed them so much I insisted my Father watch them also. He said, "These movies should be shown to every child in school."

Hope this has helped answer your questions khalling, if you have any others feel free to ask, as well as anyone else who has a question.

The best way I see "shrugging" is paying the least amount in taxes to the federal and state governments. Get as many tax write-offs as you can. I know we will always be paying taxes short of cutting off everything in the world. But just pay the least amount as possible. The government is the biggest moocher as it takes taxes out of our working paychecks & gives it to people who don't work. Setup up a system that gets you the most write-offs and fund the government the least amount as possible. Also come next election, vote for people who want government budget reform. take control of the US senate (if you live here in the US) then we may have a chance to pass a good/decent budget without obama and his crazy ObamaCare and his ultimate plan to run the country into the ground and turn us into a 3rd world country. The government is the issue, so cutting their funding off and starving the big government parasite will help and you can "shrug" without compromising to musch of your personal livelihood.

We have discussed alternatives to living in CT, and have come across a few. Our obstacles at this point are the prospect of selling a house in this area, and also uprooting our kids who have really grown up here. My husband is in a postion in his career where he can command a very good salary, but it's makes us sick to see what a HUGE chunk of that gets siphoned off for the benefit of moochers. It makes me sick. But we have to find a place where his work ethic meshes with a prospective employers. He has a very low tolerance for stupidity and laziness when it comes to business ethics. I can do what I do anywhere, so for me I'm most concerned with the education that would be offered in a place we might choose to live. As far as people we would miss, well we have friends we've known for years, and we are all over the country. The ones we feel are important in our lives are still there. We have shed those with whom there are great divides in thinking, politically, ethically, etc. There are a few who share our pain over what we see happening in the country, and we try in our small way to to change that. It's sadly an uphill battle because so much of the populace believes the shit being spread by the liberal govt and its minions in the media. I guess I could say we have shrugged those with whom there is no common ground in logical thought, and unfortunately it has included family. But I'd rather not have someone like that in my children's lives, clouding reality.

Begrudgingly, against my nature, I am withholding my best efforts. I paid off my equipment, and shrank my operation to form my own little gulch. I saved the producers only, disassociated myself from all looters and moochers. I will only consider looking for more work if I find an irreplaceable worthy producer. I have a lot of idle machines… I long for the day, when it is profitable to train new people, power up all the equipment and expand my operation… I would be more concerned but my competitors are struggling, while I am coasting. It no longer pays to knock yourself out, when the looters just find more ways to take. Don’t keep too much money in the bank. Buy gold, or guns, or anything that you think will hold its value. I parted with unnecessary vehicles and items requiring license fees and taxes. Hunt, fish, (unavoidable licenses) garden, freeze, can, buy used, repair, keep vehicles looking good years after being paid off and generally find ways to legally avoid feeding the behemoth. All of these kinds of actions contribute to the declining economy which is contrary to our true desire, to produce in a thriving economy… but at what price? Diminished returns feeding the increasing mass of thankless looters? No thanks…

Many of you mention that election night put you in a funk. I too was in a funk but there was another event in my life that sparked something inside me that wasn't there before. I had my first child in December. It was the most amazing thing I've ever been a part of. When I look into her eyes and see that little face it brings so much joy to me. Unfortunately, a few weeks after she was born I was reading my typical news feeds and it dawned on me...her "fair share" of the national debt is approximately $40,000! I can't get my head around how this is "fair". Every dollar the gov't spends that it doesn't have is the equivilent of taxing future generations, only they don't get a vote in the whole deal! I wrote to the ACLU (I know, the most liberal org ever, but I didn't know what other group I could turn to) to see if they would be interested in filing a lawsuit against the Federal Gov't for taxation without representation. I haven't heard back. I guess this really sin't so much shrugging as fighting back.

I easily could start a business with my skillset. I won't do it. It would only widen the straw that's being used to suck the life out of me.

I won't buy anything new inside my own state if I can help it. It's all mail order and free shipping option through out-of-state companies.

If I have to get something quick, I go local through CraigsList.

I convert my cash to bullion - not because I expect to make money, but to keep them from stealing from me through inflation.

I intend later this year to take an unpaid leave of absence for the sole reason of denying the government that tax money they thought they were going to get by putting the social security tax back to 6.2%. I have drawn a line in the sand. They will get no tax dollars beyond that line, and if it means I produce less, so be it.

I record all sales and misc taxes paid and make efforts to eliminate the top sources. Haven't quite figured out how to reduce my #1 (Diesel). But my #2 (Cell phone) is being radically reduced with a move to Skype.

I'm leaving my state for one that doesn't have an income tax.

The 401K will be out of their reach once I arrive at the new state. The money is coming out and going to bullion.

The Cyprus incident has me thinking that I might want to just have my company mail me my check, and I'll get it cashed at Walmart.

I am with you. After the election I was in a funk where I was really ready to run off into the mountains and say "forget it." Instead, I bought a couple of new computers for my wife and I and we became involved in an online mmo game for a couple of months.

http://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2012...

That's why I didn't say much here for a while. We played that game for many hours which felt like another world. In it, there was a freedom that just isn't there in real life, which is pretty sad when you think about it. I found it a very interesting experience that was refreshing. I can see why so many kids get into those games. You get to keep what you earn, because there are no taxes in that particular MMO environment and you can go where you want anytime you want to and do pretty much whatever when you get there.

It is of course a simulated reality, but I went there for the freedom and the vacation from the world for a couple of months. And it did recharge my batteries. But I was certainly shrugging!

http://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2013...

I see a common thread here...election night. What a kick in the thinker. (Except kh, who's always ahead of the game.)