By mapple on Wednesday, August 18, 2010
It seems that every generation that reads “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand can say it pertains to their time and their social circumstances. That’s what makes the book a classic, right? Well, this generation is no different. Upon reading Atlas Shrugged, I immediately related the circumstances within the book to those surrounding the election of Barack Obama, the Democrats taking over the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the overall malaise of the nation.
People from older generations that I’ve talked to conceded the same position. When they read Atlas Shrugged ten, twenty, or thirty years ago, its principles and warnings coincided perfectly with the political climate of the day. While I concede that liberal thinking has been trying to take over this country for years, now it is closer than ever before, and the political stage is set to create lasting, irrevocable damage to the way our country is meant to run.
There are several events, mirrored in Atlas Shrugged, that have happened or are set to happen in our current situation, that lead to the inevitable downturn of the United States. For the record, Bush didn’t cause the current “economic downturn,” the Democratic Congress did. Wall Street started to crash because of fear and predictions – fear that a Democrat will win the presidency (and then would hold both houses and the executive branch, and close to the judicial branch now, with all the liberal judges being appointed), and the predictions of what the Democrats would do with that power. The liberal agenda was no secret – they have been trying to get it passed in one form or another for decades. The difference this time around was that they had a puppet enter the White House and they already held majority in Congress, so there was no holding back.
First, they started passing exorbitant slush funds to do with whatever they pleased, masquerading under the titles of “economic stimulus packages”, only to find that the only people they stimulated were union and government jobs, which does nothing for the private sector. After adding to our debt in that fashion, they then took it upon themselves to own/nationalize our banks, because they were “too big to fail”. As a side note, they are currently too big to fail due to Democratic legislation back in the day that forbid a gazillion little banks and forced them to join bigger banks (thus creating the mammoth banks we have today). So now the government not only prints the money, they own the distribution centers (and saving centers).
I don’t have to remind you that shortly after, Obama took over the car industry, prompting General Motors to be called Government Motors in criticizing circles. The Democrats seem to write themselves in as the middle man for every business deal that comes their way, so they can have their piece of the pie when they weren’t even invited to the table. The next government write-in sets a predictor in motion that have people leaving the country…
The Oil Industry. The U.S., and the Southern states most importantly, live off the oil industry. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and other state economies would crash if the domestic oil industry were no more. Ever since Obama took office (and much before, but Bush would have vetoed it), the Democrats have been throwing around Cap and Trade legislation which will squash local manufacturing, refining, and oil, among others. They have threatened to take away drilling onshore and offshore. But public outcry has held them back slightly, until now.
The Gulf Oil Spill. What a perfect opportunity to demonize big oil companies, to prey on the heartstrings of the people with images of pelicans oozing with black gold. Allow the media to exaggerate the situation, and voila! We have a perfect stage to infiltrate the oil industry. But how can we ensure government control? Obama and Congress figured that one out. BP responded quickly, apologized profusely, and utilized the greatest apology accepted: money. They started dishing out claims money within days of the spill, keeping the peace throughout the Gulf, at least until the media blew the spill out of proportion. So how did the government get their greasy little fingers in there? They fined BP for the oil spill. Typical, right? Yes, but they forced BP to give the government 20 Billion dollars, and then the government will pay out claims as they see fit, rather than paying them through BP, which had been working flawlessly. So, the government thinks they can do better? Did they forget about the FEMA disaster with Hurricane Katrina? Anyway, that still doesn’t give the government too much control. Here’s the clencher: If BP defaults on their “loan,” the government takes over all BP assets they can (I assume this is strictly U.S. assets, but if they can reach farther, I’m sure they will). So, now we are just waiting for congress to make it impossible for BP to meet the demands, and that huge oil company switches hands, to government control.
It seems like the government is setting up its pawns to be in control of just about every major industry. I don’t want to wait and see what’s next…