That last person was Owen Kellogg, whom Dagny was considering for promotion to be a division superintendent before Galt took him. So he was more than just a hard-working guy; he did have some intellectual ability.

I haven't read all of the comments on this topic yet but I would imagine that JG would have invited as many of any trade as he needed, as long as they met the basic criteria of believing in trading value for value. I've only read this book five times so I am still learning about subtle things I've missed. I will be re-reading it again before the final installment.

This seems to me to be straw-man that arises from focusing on the concretes or particulars while ignoring the general principle. The presentation of Galt's Gulch in Atlas Shrugged was not to present an Objectivist utopia as defined by the absence of the so-called lower classes. Its purpose and presence in the book was to represent a philosophic ideal, a society based upon the central premises of the book, which is to say a society founded upon Rand's Objectivist philosophy and its economic corollaries.

When one understands the general principle that Galt's Gulch represents, it does not matter much who Galt "explicitly" invites to the Gulch in the text. A proper understanding of the principle Galt’s Gulch represents reveals the qualifying characteristic for residency is not one’s class or social status but rather one's commitment to exchange value for value and a refusal to require other men to live for one's own sake.

Properly understood it becomes self-evident that a brick layer of the proper mindset would be as welcome in Galt's Gulch as an industrialist of the same mindset.

To focus on who Galt invites explicitly in the text is to completely miss or ignore all that is implicit in the principles Rand establishes throughout the rest of the book. Indeed, based upon those principles Galt’s Gulch would almost certainly have had sign out front stating: “Skilled Laborers Welcome”

To think that the principles of Objectivism are only for geniuses or high achievers is to miss the point of Objectivism. Characters like Eddie Willers or the railroad workers on the Taggart Line are crucial to an understanding of the philosophy and Miss Rand's expressive intentions. They serve to illustrate the philosophy's universality. Remember Dagny's comment that she had more in common with her dedicated workers than her spineless, uncongealed "colleagues". Most of us can probably recall the warm feelings we had for a housepainter who did a superb job on our home, or a taxi driver who got us to the airport swiftly yet safely, deftly maneuvering his vehicle through rush hour traffic. And our appreciation of their honesty and fairness in collecting their fees. Only a "man (or woman) of the mind" can truly appreciate these people. Yes, you have a place in the Gulch, and the admiration and respect of those who truly understand you!

I don't know how many bricklayers they invited but there was one truck driver, a homemaker with children and a fishmonger in the novel.

First let me clear up a few mistakes that many people often have about “Galt's Gulch". It is not a space age utopia on par with that neo-marxist fable “Elysium” but it is just a sanctuary. It is a hiding place from power hungry statists and politicians that would force all of these industrial/scientific/artistic giants to bend over and save everyone else at their own financial detriment.

I specifically remember the descriptions of Francisco's cabin being rather simple and modest in appearance save for his grand family crest hanging over the door. There were some high tech advantages over the outside world such as the holographic ray shield and Galt's new engines, but the gulch is overall is described in the book as fairly primitive living. The only important difference between the gulch with the outside world is that those on the inside are free to think and do as they please. No dictatorial government interference, no burdensome regulations, and no one to tell you how much profit you MAY make or how much money you MUST pay your employees. "McDonalds" cough cough.

One rule of being in the gulch early on was that you couldn't really pursue your expertise and had to stick with other jobs that could not be used to benefit the outside world. In the gulch, Hammond ran the grocery store, Narraganesett/Muligan = farming, Rand portrayed herself as the fishmonger, etc. I don't think anyone including Midas Mulligan lived in high tech “super mansions”.

The vast majority of people in the US just shrugged on their own. They had enough of the increasing socialism and being trapped in a dead end job. They all just got up and walked away into the empty darkness. Not everyone could be saved and not all wealthy industrialists were invited to the gulch either. Just as today, there were many billionaires like Oren Boyle or James Taggart. Scumbag wealthy people that are more than happy to use their money and power to influence politicians and keep competitors down while the money flows back into their own pockets. “cough” GE “cough”

I've had PhD physicist do plumbing and stonework. I've done the same. That said, I known farmers who had to master many trades. It is not a level of skill that define the gulch, but values. I'm sure many extraordinary people did not belong in the gulch due to their misplaced values.

Perhaps it's been too many years since I've read the book, but my recollection included teachers, musicians, artists, and other non-tangible contributions.

I work in telecommunications - and had the opportunity to work with a union employee. Long story short - her comment was: Think about is like this - we do data entry. We don't get paid to think.

I actually see value in unions in today's environment ... unless the end result is this mind set.

It made me sad ....

Galt invited any capable person he wanted to rob from the world. There were plenty of people that visited galts gulch yearly. People like Owen Kellog and others like the breakman that worked for Wyatt, but was Haley's student were employed employed to build and operate machinery. Ben McNamara built the utilities as a business. He was the contractor that walked out before Dagny could build the John Galt line.

If John Galt can build an engine that draws energy from static electricity, then he can help build a town and its infrastructure.

Your question as well as your last sentence defines you as someone not really worth answering. Levels of comprehension and consciousness must be worked for and earned, not granted.
Reminds me of an old Koan about the man that spent his entire life struggling up the 'ladder' only to reach the top and see that he'd climbed the wrong ladder.

Howard Roarke, Rand's Objectivist hero from The Fountainhead, laid brick.
He also dug, fitted, and laid granite.
He also worked girders in construction.

Francisco D'anconia, Hank Reardon, Ken Dannager, Ellis Wyatt, and Dagney Taggart worked their careers from the ground up.

Self-made men tend to have a wealth of knowledge, such as brick laying, which they would be happy to trade value for value.

Real world example: I have worked in IT for 25 years, yet I make scratch sourdough bread which my family fights over.

Were there a real gulch, and were I to be there, I would gladly bake the best bread I knew how in order to trade value for value.

I have never had reason to feel that Ayn Rand disrespected journeymen.
On the contrary. IMO, her works were directed as much to reinforcing and encouraging the "non-elite" to believe in and respect the value of their labors and to make the most of them to create value as it was to appeal to the intellectual elite and entrepreneur class.

I saw nothing to suggest that a bricklayer or plumber—any craftsman who took pride in his work and who wanted to do the very best he could in performing it—was to be admired and had every right to demand and receive fair compensation for the value of what he or she produced.

What has she said that makes you feel differently?

I think you are forgetting one thing. The people in the Gulch are the most gifted individuals in the world. Remember what Dagny did while see was living in the cabin in the woods, she completely rebuilt the landscaping around the cabin. She wasn't trained as a landscaper. She didn't have fancy machinery to move rocks. She saw what needed to be done and did it.You don't have to trained as a brick mason to lay brick. You just have to be capable enough to figure out how its done and do it.

If you read the book there were other trades mentioned. I assumed the welder, the electrican and others ended up there. Why not? I'm mostly self educated and have become an inventor and work in reserch. You need not be born to somthing to create. I worked many trades.

No, Rand acknowledged the value of the contributions of non-geniuses. You might recall the character "Mike" in the Fountainhead. He was the electrician who befriended Howard Roark. He was a man of the sort you describe -- a highly competent, value for value tradesman. What evidenced this more than anything else was his recognition of Roark's value and his moral and practical support of the architect.

One of the most touching scenes I ever read in any book was the scene between Mike and Roark when he tells Roark that he (Mike) once had a son... who died. As I recall, on hearing that, Roark touched Mike's shoulder.

I'm sure it affected me because my dad was an electrician and someone whose work could always be trusted. The Gulch would have been filled with Mike's. There work would have been all the more necessary because of the Galts.

Chin up!

The book was clear that each person built their own home. I would imagine the streets were paved by a corroborative effort. The utilities man laid the water pipe and possibly the electric wiring, and was paid by subscriptions to his service.

Not to disparage trade workers, but Dagny had the skills necessary to live in her father's cabin alone and make necessary repairs. Within my experience, producers pass through may stages of life and often start in the trades. "Famous artists, noted business leaders" ( not unlike Francisco d'Anconia) commonly draw from a wealth of prior experience in a variety of areas. It is completely plausible that they could build the Gulch.

If I recall correctly, Francisco said he built is own house. But the barter system was in play, so each person had skills and they helped each other as needed, but they were paid in money or in-kind repayment. The issue isn't whether I can do everything myself, I can't. Neither could the individuals in the Gulch. What isn't allowed is for me to whine that I can't do it and pity me and do it for free. If I need help to build my house, then I pay back those services by doing something for that person. Everyone pays their own way.

Ellis Wyatt would probably be able to build his own house. The key in this post's argument is the definition of the word "worth". I can make the world's best booger, but it will not be considered as valuable as the Hope Diamond. Similarly the ability to flip a hamburger does not compare to the ability to calculate net present value in a risk reward analysis of extending a reailroad line.
I walk among you. As a machinist I see people every day who have one foot out the door when the quitting bell rings, while others do not turn off their machines until said time.
What is an honest wage, what is a full day's worth of work and what is the value of a skill??
What are you worth? Who decides?

Every slave knows that a free man owns himself.

Who owns you?

Did not one of Dagny's favorite and trusted rail workers leave to go to the Gulch? He was not running the company, yet, but Dagny depended on him to do his job well. Rand also had the mother, raising her children at the Gulch. That is my job, and I appreciate Rand mentioning it. Although not major characters, there would be people at the Gulch that do ALL types of jobs well. How many checkers at your grocery store even look at you anymore? Or are they just joking around with their fellow workers as they mindlessly scan your merchandise?

Please, anyone with an engineering degree of ANY type and physical and mental competence can design and build a house. Remember the pioneers in America built homes much in the style that AMISH folks STILL DO TODAY! That's what neighbors are for! I built my own home (literally) and I'm an electrical engineer. WIthout the spectre of government looking over your shoulder a person can still fabricate a watertight, comfortable space that is safe and comfortable. That's how America was built in the first place BEFORE the "building codes" came to even exist!!

As many as were needed and offered fair exchange.

"If the criterion for admission is a belief in "trading value for value", surely Galt should and would have invited "ordinary" workers to the Gulch as well as luminaries like Wyatt and Danagger?"

I believe not only did he, but those he invited also brought some of his own people in. Also, remember Midas had bought this valley a good time before as a private retreat. We can't necessarily assume everything was built from scratch. Also too, none of those invited would shirk from a little "honest labor".

Finally, Galt in his address exhorted those who sympathized with his cause to set up similar communities - rich, poor, industrialist or worker. What was necessary was alignment of ideals, not restriction of class.

So yes, there would be a place for you in "Galt's gulch". My question is, would you take it?