Who was John Galt?

In the 1930's novel "Atlas Shrugged", by Ayn Rand, John Galt was a mysterious character, a creative inventor/engineer, who chose to withhold his talents from a society which he deemed was becoming too progressive and socialistic. He not only withdrew from that society, but took with him all of the secrets of his previous work, depriving society of their benefits. His actions were based on his refusal to allow the government to confiscate the profits of his enterprise, and to distribute them, as it saw fit, to people not able or willing to make similar efforts to succeed.

Retreating to a hidden location in the Rocky Mountains, he and a like-minded group of individuals organized a society where people were free not only to pursue their interests, but more importantly, to reap the financial rewards emanating from their industry.

He and his cohorts also began enticing other like-minded individuals to join them, leaving the society they abhorred with fewer and fewer competent people to run the industries needed to support that society. As the society began to collapse, its leaders, mostly incompetent bureaucrats with no knowledge of industry or experience in production, reacted by imposing more and more government regulations on the remaining producers, driving them away as well.

While written in the 1930's, at a time when the measure of the nation's strength was based on railroads and steel production, and well before the advent of many of the technological innovations which have come about since that time, there are many parallels to the society that we live in today. We have a government far removed from the people it is supposed to represent. A government which spends money it does not have, burdening future generations with trillions of dollars in debt and liabilities. A government which retains its standing by paying tribute to unions and other special interest groups.


Who Is John Calt today?

In today's society, there is one person that is striking fear into the heart of progressives. His name is Glenn Beck.

Almost unknown two years ago, Glenn Beck, a reformed alcoholic and radio talk-show host, gained prominence when he joined the Fox News network in early 2009. Using blackboards and unorthodox props, such as frogs, dead fish, candy and outlandish desserts, he has, on a daily basis, delved into the progressive agenda of both the government and the organizations which are leading the government deeper and deeper into a progressive mindset. As harsh on Republicans as he is on Democrats, Beck is on a mission to return the country to what its Founding Fathers had in mind when they worked so hard to form a government "of the people, by the people and for the people".

Extremely well read and able to make his case, Beck also reaches out for support from guests who are experts in their field, and who are seldom seen in other media venues. When accused by the White House of distorting facts, Beck responded by installing a red telephone to which only the White House has access, and challenging them to call him if and when he said something that was inaccurate. He mockingly waves this telephone whenever he makes a point against the administration. They have yet to respond.

Beck has been named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in America, despite his constant bashing of the media for its journalistic failures. This must have been difficult to swallow, but they could not ignore him forever.

What makes Glenn Beck so effective is that he uses the tactics of the left against the left. Taking pages from Saul Alinski's radical teachings, Beck goes after the very constituency on which the left relies heavily for support. For example, his series on Black History won him accolades from the black media for making the case that Black history has been marginalized, mostly for political reasons, and to the detriment of the Black community.

Glenn Beck's primary objective is to educate the American people, or rather to help them to educate themselves, on the dangers of progressivism to our way of life. He is succeeding. If he merely mentions a book, it jumps to the top of the bestseller list. An educated populace is anathema to the progressive agenda, and the progressives realize this. They are becoming paranoid about Beck. At a recent progressive convention, almost every speaker addressed the issue of Glenn Beck and the need to shut him down. They have tried ridicule, talked about legislation against conservative media, and have gone after his sponsors. To date, nothing has worked. He is slowly destroying their movement, much as John Galt destroyed the progressive movement in "Atlas Shrugged".