I was in the Marine's, an elected Offical and a School Teacher. You do not need an SS# for banking or loans, you can use a TIN#. A S.S.# is the number FOR SOCIAL SECURITY...Guess why its called a Social Security Number.
Yes it can be used for several other things to make it easier for them.

I understand the meaning's of 'Mandatory', 'Misunderstood' and 'misused'.

While it is true that most American's misunderstand the Social Security and Federal Income tax...I do not.

I suggest you study up on the Social Security matter and remove yourself from those that are lacking in the knowledge needed to understand your rights as a citizen of the republic.

I wish you well in your studies...we need more people of knowledge to stop this slide down the slope we are currently on.

Just to put a different viewpoint on this, this same type of discourse and excitement has come up in the Star Trek community with both the JJ movies and current efforts like Axanar and Pacific201. People get specific concepts in their heads as they read/listen to a book, and then watch the visualization of it, and have seemingly hard times meshing it all together. They then begine to question very speciofic items and ask why was this that, what was up with this thing, etc. I have found it is usually an expressionof their specific interpretation and an effort to make it mesh with something not quite the same. If they really liked the book, they then have specific expectations, which do not mesh with what can be done with budgets and locations and actors available. Starship Troopers was a good example of just how a great book with a deep message can be turned on it's head, and I lost all my expectations of books and movies meshing. Too many variables come in to play. And some people get very passionately involved to the point of absurd details.

I didn't realize it was the same person. Interesting.

I, for one, fully intend to keep driving over all those beautiful Colorado mountain roads and trails until I find that Gulch. Maybe I'll ask him when I find it.

It has only been brought up many times by the same person. I still do not get that it was so hard to understand the license plate. But thank you sdesapio for your explanations.

The question seems like a thinly veiled complaint about the movie. I can think of several answers, beginning with "why would he bother to take it off."

What does it matter? There were a lot of things I didn't like about the movie either, like the very old Dagnar and Francisco, but the message was still there, kind of. Why does the license plate mean so much to you?

Scott: Your statements are thorough.
However, it could be that rainman was referring to the fact that when "renowned", in the public eye (and under government scrutiny) individuals mysteriously vanished that an all out manhunt was instigated by the government officials and rewards placed on their heads. Could it be that rainman questions this point of being excessively vulnerable if stopped by officials or someone looking for the reward $$?

Some "renowned", like Francisco, did not officially disappear and were not wanted (until very end) so being stopped while driving, etc., a moot point. Others like Ragnar were wanted by the government officials for crimes against the State and would have to travel incognito (someone else's name and car registration). But as time went on the government cracked down on "disappearing producers", hence they could not freely come and go, driving or not, unless under an assumed identity in case they were questioned for documents.

That brings us to Galt... the audacity of Rand, and therefore Galt, was ingeniously portrayed in his "hiding in plain site", even while keeping his own name. Who would have ever imagined or believed it to be true had he been actually stopped by any official. But nonetheless a pronounced risk had he been driving and intercepted.

I think that rainman needs to view this in the time it was written, pre-computers and non interconnecting agencies much less able to track down vehicles and connect the dots like we have today. So the reality of this happening would have been greatly reduced at that time.

Even if John Galt never left the Gulch with his bronco. A license plate is effective protective coloration for anyone that wanders into the area.

Not having any plate would be far more attention grabbing. Whereas having the plate, a viewer thinks, ok from Colorado, no big deal.

"Who is John Galt?" Just like the rest of us. :)

masking entry by air was explainable. masking entry on a road is not explainable in my opinion. Plus, there are other people with cars, trucks, etc. that could find the road and just drive on it to the gulch and blow the whole secrecy thing. Remember the government at one point was big time into finding where the movers and shakers were going.

Actually Midas said there was a trail to the gulch that was so well hidden no one could find it. I imagine that's how the big stuff got there.

artistic license and running out of money were the driving factors. There was an episode of breaking bad called something like "fly", where walter white chased around a fly for most of the episode. I wondered why they did that. The series creator Gilligan was interviewed later about that, and he said they ran out of money at one point and needed a very cheap to product episode. And here I had thought there was some deep meaning in that episode that I had just missed...... stupid me.

OK, to add some levity to what's become an overly serious discussion, I would say forget the license plate. What Bumper Stickers do you think John Galt would place on his car?

He didn't build it there, so he drove it there. Perhaps he just never took it off.

Your Social Security # is your Federal Name, not State, actually Social Security is not mandatory just ask any public teacher, Fire fighter, Police Officer or anyone living in Puerto Rico [Fed income tax as well].

Now back to the License plate, in this case it is only as a distinguisher not as a registration IMHO

http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...

Maybe we should leave it at- they made the movie using what they had at hand and within the budget. The whole gulch scenes were ridiculous really- license plates, cars? if it was so hard to get into in an expensive plane, getting cars and refrigerators and furniture would have been very difficult except if there were roads. But the existence of a road makes the gulch ridiculously vulnerable. Just didnt make sense.