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'Going Galt' - Canadians follow new American fad

The American right wing, in dealing with the horror of the Obama administration, has returned to the book that changed its life: Atlas Shrugged. Half a century after its publication, Ayn Rand's novel is inspiring Americans (and Canadians) to imitate its hero and "go Galt."

The movement actually began before last fall's US election, with a post on the Dr. Helen blog. Google "going Galt" now, and you'll get 93,000 hits.

In the novel, industrialist John Galt and his wealth-creating followers go on strike against a parasitic government bureaucracy, and bring down the economy.

In the aftermath of the election, Battling Obama by 'Going Galt' looked like an attractive tactic, and got serious attention across the right-wing blogosphere.

The liberal blogger Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings responded with a detailed discussion of both "going Galt" and how its proponents don't even understand their fictional exemplar and Ayn Rand herself.

Meanwhile, the Canadian blogger Hunter at Climbing out of the Dark has taken up the idea and recommended western Canada as the destination for those going Galt:

We call Alberta "God's Country", maybe it should be renamed to "Galt Country"! Many people will be looking to find a place to go to that is not just mouthing freedom, but lives it, and that is western Canada. It should not be "Who is John Galt", it should be "Where is John Galt".

Rand, an atheist, would probably approve of this new description of Alberta.

The blogger at Secrets of Vancouver agrees that it's Time to Go Galt:

"If you can - go Galt now, plant your garden and load your guns. It’s left-wing fascism gone wild in ways that would make even Hugu Chavez wince."

For reasons poorly understood, American wealth creators like George Soros, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Warren Buffett have failed to climb on the bandwagon.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.

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