Man Flees to Russia for Economic Freedom!

John Galt,  the fictional character from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, doesn’t appear until the last third of the novel.  For most of the work he’s a phantom, always in the background, waiting for the right moment to make his appearance.  When he does appear, it turns out that the enemy of left-leaning plutocrats everywhere has been hiding out on his own private island.  Why? First, there’s the principle of the matter.  Galt hates collective-minded bureaucrats who use democratic language like “equality” and “fairness” to strip hard-working individuals of that which is legally earned and privately owned.   And then there’s the simple mathematics of the matter.   Hiding away on a private island is a great way to avoid paying taxes.

Galt would welcome Gerard Depardieu to the island. Continue reading →