Who is John Galt?

JOHN GALT lives without guilt.

JOHN GALT doesn’t demand happiness, he pursues it.

JOHN GALT learns by applying reason to objective reality.

JOHN GALT does not expect others to live for him.

JOHN GALT does not believe in chance.

JOHN GALT uses what he earns to live within his means.

JOHN GALT fights without using force.

JOHN GALT believes you have a right to your own body.

JOHN GALT does not demand charity.

JOHN GALT does not demand solutions, he solves problems.

JOHN GALT chooses his own values.

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These are strange days, and our beliefs are strong – so strong that they often put us at odds with each other, and sometimes even with ourselves.

Some of our hang onto our beliefs so tightly that we ignore reality and even the blatant facts that prove they are “fake” so as not to contradict what we want to be true. How have we become so compartmentalized by our beliefs, so deeply rooted in what they represent, and so feverish in our resentments of those who believe something different that we do?

But more importantly, who is this John Galt?

John Galt is a character in the 1957 book Atlas Shrugged by author Ayn Rand. If this Sunday you find yourself triggered by the rhetoric of the commentators and curmudgeons on the cable news, or in a debate with a beloved about the rightness or wrongness of conflicting beliefs, perhaps a visit to Atlas Shrugged is in order.

The answer to the question, “Who is John Galt?” may surprise you. It might even inspire you. Or it could just piss you off. But when you answer the question, it will most certainly help you understand what it is you believe.

Good luck and have a good week.

Joe Still
2023.08.20

Cite
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
– Ayn Rand