That was a very good analysis. I agree it will take a long time, not just 10 years. We are all working more and more to support the looters already, which lends support to the "shrugging" plan of John Galt. The more we try to invent and become more efficient, the more we supply the looters with the tools to ply their trade.

Ayn Rand was one smart person !! It didnt hit me until I listened to the Orren Boyle discussion on the phone where he said that "Rearden's success will give us the tools to bring him down". I didnt understand how profound that was until I thought about it a bit.

Now I resent paying ANY taxes at all, because I am supporting the very thing that will eventually make it impossible for me to exist.

Either are likely to provoke an economic crash.

The problem is the US has deep pockets in the form of wealth than can be stolen to keep things moving. It may take another century to get to the point that we cannot steal anything else. Even Venezuela is still providing loot to the looters. A far smaller economy that was effectively shut down 20 years ago.

How long do we run with our own economy shut down? A lot of variables with that one.

While we have near slave labor in third world countries to make things cheap to buy, the looters can last much longer. We also all become looters to some small capacity, if we want to or not.
While we have the ability to increase taxes in one of a thousand ways we are taxed, they can continue and in most cases hide the additional tax from the general public. This will allow the US to function for a very long time before it fails.

The only way I see a fast closure is if we have a massive economic collapse. This would have to be global in nature to remove the wealth of the US and her citizens. There is Francisco to speed that process along, and it is likely to take centuries, not decades or years, without a major event to make it happen.

Add to this most the younger people do not even realize freedom is largely gone. They accept and even want socialism. This makes the death slower, longer and less painful for those that think they want collectivism in some form.

We are definitely NOT doing good. I would agree with 10% inflation, just based on what I spend on things and how I have had to cut back on what I buy (but I still spend the same overall $$ each month). Unemployment figures dont include people who just gave up and take government money instead of working. And the wages people make havent risen. Prices have only been held down by massive shifts in supplies being bought from china ( I know this because I buy for my small company, and 75% of what I used to buy from USA companies I now buy from china in order to keep our customer prices the same)

I read somewhere that if all the government unfunded promises were applied to the total wealth in the country, we would be bankrupt already. Its just that all the unfunded promises done have to be lived up to immediately.

I have a little recollection of the gas restrictions. I recall being in line one time when my dad was getting gas. I was born very early 1970's so I think I was maybe 4. ;)

The states from the link I posted say inflation rate right now is using the method pre 1980 are actually at around 9%. Unemployment is at around 22%. GDP is at around -1.7% (yep - negative!). And we all know about the debt. We're not doing good.

I can remember back in the Nixon and Ford days when inflation got to about 18%. The government passed all kinds of laws restricting price raises, wage raises, etc. When the arabs raised the price of oil, all of a sudden there was a shortage of gasoline (probably due to some government price controls no doubt), and then we had odd-even days when you could fill your tank, stupid 55 mph speed limits, etc.

I look carefully at Venezuela to see what creative government policies they are using to hide whats happening, as they will probably be used here too. ALL BETS ARE OFF NOW when the government is in protective mode.

The problem is the government is changing how they calculated GDP, Inflation, unemployment, etc... to give a false positive reality. The numbers are bad when looking at it honestly. Look at http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_... and their other data on many other stats.

Also, they are already changing banking regulations that are putting your ability to move money around difficult. There are regulations in place allowing banks/government to take assets in case of bank failures, etc...

I think we are one strong crash away from major government intervention at our own peril.

Yes. It will only end when their gravy train collapses like the Taggart bridge over the Mississippi.

So much like Atlas Shrugged that it feels like fiction.

Didn't Atlas Shrug in Zimbabwe years ago?

http://www.investors.com/politics/edi...

Great article. Most interesting was how The Polar Group stopped producing beer because of government mismanagement. It appears Atlas is shrugging in Venezuela.
Perhaps there will be a collapse followed by renaissance.

That's right.

Toward the end of AS, Francisco changed his name to Frank and worked at Rearden's steel mill.

I used to wonder a bit about what Francisco did, but now I dont wonder any more. Maybe you mean working ON Hank Rearden to get him to shrug. I have been doing that actually.

I suppose the length of time the society will last is determined by its total wealth divided by the rate at which it is being consumed by the statists. Venezuela has wealth in the ground, but it cant get it OUT of the ground even. In the USA, I think if you take the total wealth and subtract the unfunded liabilities of the government, we are already technically bankrupt, but the promises made by the government arent all coming due at once, so we are still limping along.

I dont like living like this, especially as I get older and less able to recover from a real crash.

On the one hand I want to tie the hands of the establishment a bit to slow down the move to statism (Trump), and on the other hand I wonder if its not best to get it over with and provoke a real economic crash (Sanders).

Look at Venezuela though. They have put it off for a LONG time already and its not over yet. We havent even gotten to military rule here in the USA yet. Our government is expert at stretching the rubber band. They have printed trillions of dollars and the dollar is still strong with nearly zero interest rate.

Something will upset the applecart, and the government will put controls on us to prevent us from protecting ourselves I am sure. But WHAT will go wrong and what will they do? That is the question I am struggling with.

Ding! Ding! Ding!
We have a winner!
Your prize?
I'll annoy someone else now.

the best thing he can give me (us) is his resignation after all we are the employers. look on my web site and see the videos, you will see I am old.

Took long enough. I had a friend whose family was trapped in Venezuela while he, as student in CA, was locked out in the US. Chavez seized their ancestral estate, their business, and froze all their assets.

I've lost touch with him over the years. I often wonder when I see these headlines how he and his family are doing.

You're old? Besides Social Security, what else can the jackass party give you for your vote?
Some free food plastic?
All out of Obama phones at the moment.

Amazing the number of repeats this Socialist experiment has, always having the same result, yet people are baited back into it every time.

Interesting to see that Ayn Rand was right about a civilization falling into decay. Unfortunately, Orwell was also right when he stated, "He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future." Unfortunately, our children are no longer learning history, so they are only doomed to repeat it.

And that's one of the best Reality Checks anyone can get!

One of the lessons of Atlas Shrugged is that looters will find new sources to loot for a lot longer than producers think is possible. What seems like an earthquake to us will be but a tremor, and it will happen over and over and over again.

Nonetheless, remember Venezuela was one of the most productive countries in South America 25 years ago, with Chile being among the least. Now see how their fortunes have reversed along with their philosophical changes.

Well done, Francisco. Have you begun working for Hank Rearden yet?