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Who is John Galt?

Re: Who is John Galt?

XYZ said:
Possibly, but an on the other hand example: If I judged USCHO posters solely based on what other posters say about them...I'd be walking in a wilderness of mirrors :)
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Eh... true... but if I had to read a stack of books I'd be rather bored with life. For all my interest in politics I've taken little interest in political and/or historical tomes... to me I'd rather go at the ideas. This doesn't mean I don't read things on occasion, but they really have to strike me or that there's something in them that I'm trying to grasp... for instance, I bought a couple of non-fiction books related to the markets during the collapse... not specifically the one we've had though I did buy "The Big Short"... with that I was trying to get an understanding of what goes on up there.

In the end, while I live a fairly socially boring nerd's life (I'm working on that :) ) to me I'd rather be doing stuff... which is why I read several websites with my fly-like attention span... and why I don't set myself down to read books... I figure something interesting will happen and I sorta wait for that. Is it true that maybe i miss out on the general lessons of history? Maybe.... but to me, ideas can be lined out quickly... but I suppose that's the mathematician in me. I'd rather get to the point than sit through the tome.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

It only cost $10 million to make - so when it's all said and done, it will probably break even. Given how bad the reviews have been, that's something of an accomplishment. :p

Also note: it did $1458 per theater - which is good for 2nd place. http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/today.php
 
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Re: Who is John Galt?

I dont have time to read this, but have been rocking the ebook version so far. its good. Makes the commute tolerable. having just gotten started, I am still asking myself...who IS john galt?
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

Review of the movie as a movie rather than... well, you know.

I must address one common yet undeserved reviewer criticism: poor acting. I contend that these actors did as well as anyone could expect given the limitations of the source material; large portions of dialogue are lifted verbatim from the novel. Rand is to realistic dialogue between compelling characters what the Battle of the Somme was to military strategy. I'd like to see an actor who can perform well while delivering lines like "I know the metal will work; I studied engineering in college." Honestly, a few of the actors – Graham Beckel (Ellis Wyatt) and Edi Gathegi (the guy who was "Big Love" on House, here playing Eddie Willers) – were quite good. Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins couldn't have made this work. Acting was not the problem.
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Re: Who is John Galt?

I am in the process of listening to the ebook ( all 2 gigabytes worth), and can’t help but to cringe at some of the dialogue. If they are pulling strait from the book as you suggest - Marlon Brando couldn’t make a difference. Its funny the reviews mention dialogue when today I was just pondering how I would change the dialogue around bigtime if I wrote those. What’s irritating is that the antagonists to rynd’s central idea come off as blithering idiots, while the supporters of her thesis are always calm , cool and collected. In the real world, nothing would be that black and white.

However, my critique for the book and movie are beyond the scope of this thread. We’ll just stick to Dialogue that makes star wars, episode 3 look good =)
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

Executives of The Boeing Co. vowed to fight the NLRB bid to compel the aeronautics giant to make the next-generation aircraft, which has been dogged by delays, cost overruns and testing mishaps, at its plant in Everett, Wash., instead of at a 584,000-square-foot factory under construction next to Charleston International Airport.
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From Atlas Shrugged;
A group headed by Bertram Scudder was demanding the passage of a Public Stability Law, forbidding Eastern business firms to move out of their states.
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In the book, the national economy is going down the crapper fast, with the exception of Colorado. Companies on the east coast are moving to take advantage of the good business climate in Colo. So fast forward to today, Boeing wants to move their 787 manufacturing plant to S.C. from Seattle to take advantage of S.C. good business climate. Thus, the unions, NLRB, and Dem's don't want them to move.

Just one example of many, of why the book and the movie resonate with conservatives and those who are anti-big government.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

A Renewed Crackdown on Redlining
Business Week ^ | May 5, 2011, 5:00PM EST | Clea Benson

Community activists in St. Louis became concerned a couple of years ago that local banks weren't offering credit to the city's poor and African American residents. So they formed a group called the St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance and began writing complaint letters to federal regulators.

Apparently, someone in Washington took notice. The Federal Reserve has cited one of the group's targets, Midwest BankCentre, a small bank that has been operating in St. Louis's predominantly white, middle-class suburbs for over a century, for failing to issue home mortgages or open branches in disadvantaged areas. Although executives at the bank say they don't discriminate, Midwest BankCentre's latest annual report says it is in the process of negotiating a settlement with the U.S. Justice Dept. over its lending practices.
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Can anyone say 'sub prime' lending? This isn't a story about something that took place prior to the meltdown, this is a current story.
as is this,
FLINT, Michigan — Citizens Bank will open a loan office in a black neighborhood in Detroit and offer $3.6 million in loans and grants throughout Wayne County as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice amid allegations of redlining.

“Discrimination in the provision of lending services based on race deprives communities of access to credit and leaves the residents of minority neighborhoods vulnerable to predatory lenders,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

“This type of discrimination is part of the web of intolerable practices that stripped vast amounts of wealth from communities of color in the last decade.”

Kristine Brenner, director of investor relations for Citizens Bank, said the lawsuit has no merit and the bank reached a settlement with the Justice Department to avoid accruing costly legal fees. Brenner said the claim isn’t based on factual information.
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Redlining is what stripped wealth from the communities of color the past decade?!?! Yeah, that's what did it.

Once again this is right out of Atlas Shrugged. According to Ayn Rands book, Midas Mulligan was forced by the gov't to give loans to people he didn't think could pay the bank back.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

Wol4ine said:
From Atlas Shrugged;


In the book, the national economy is going down the crapper fast, with the exception of Colorado. Companies on the east coast are moving to take advantage of the good business climate in Colo. So fast forward to today, Boeing wants to move their 787 manufacturing plant to S.C. from Seattle to take advantage of S.C. good business climate. Thus, the unions, NLRB, and Dem's don't want them to move.

Just one example of many, of why the book and the movie resonate with conservatives and those who are anti-big government.
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Heck, Boeing didn't even move the plant from WA, they opened a new one in SC to cover the backlog of orders they had. And at half the capacity of the WA one, it's not like there's a risk of closing the WA one given the number of 787 orders they have.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

Here's another example 'straight out of Atlas Shrugged".

H. R. 3784
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a windfall profit
tax on oil and natural gas (and products thereof) and to allow an
income tax credit for purchases of fuel-efficient passenger vehicles, and
to allow grants for mass transit.

So, what do they (bill was sponsered by Mr. KUCINICH and co-sponsored by these 5 other Dems, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms.FUDGE, and Mr. FILNER) mean by a windfall profit?
WINDFALL PROFIT.—The term ‘windfall profit’ means, with respect to any sale, so much of the profit on such sale as exceeds a reasonable profit.
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thus, we have this,
REASONABLE PROFIT.—The term ‘reasonable profit’ means the amount determined by the Reasonable Profits Board to be a reasonable profit on the sale.
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No, it isn't a Death Panel. Just 3 appointed people that will determine how much profit an industry can make.

In Atlas Shrugged, legislators pass a 'Special Tax' on the State of Colorado. Forget how that could never happen (then again, Arkansas did get a special exemption,...hmmm). Anyway, Colorado is the only place producing oil in the book, and the Feds want the profit that Wyatt Oil is making to finance the rest of their ill-fated legislation.

As a side note. Didn't Carter try this which led to gas rationing?? I'm thinking he did!!!
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

The fact that this legislation even exists is frightening.

This is the America we now live in.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

XYZ said:
From strictly a story standpoint, the latter is much better. Better characters, better story development and a plot that is much easier to relate to in terms of every day things we all know. Always thought The Fountainhead would make a much better movie than Atlas Shrugged, as not only is it better visually, but Atlas seems to be a watered-down disparate version of something I'm not sure needed to be refined.

Has anyone actually read Galt's full speech? Ever?
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"They" made a movie of The Fountainhead many years ago (1949!), with Gary Cooper as Roark.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

Wol4ine said:
thus, we have this,No, it isn't a Death Panel. Just 3 appointed people that will determine how much profit an industry can make.

In Atlas Shrugged, legislators pass a 'Special Tax' on the State of Colorado. Forget how that could never happen (then again, Arkansas did get a special exemption,...hmmm). Anyway, Colorado is the only place producing oil in the book, and the Feds want the profit that Wyatt Oil is making to finance the rest of their ill-fated legislation.

As a side note. Didn't Carter try this which led to gas rationing?? I'm thinking he did!!!
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I read Atlas Shrugged (well mostly... had to skip all the repetition). I didn't understand how she could write that stuff if she grew up in the USA in the 40-60's. There is a short biography of her in the back of the book and it makes sense that she hated anything to do with socialism/communism.

Yeah I don't understand why democrats keep using "wind fall" or "claw backs" and such non-sense words to describe fair tax system. And it shouldn't be "one time" "wind fall" "claw back" but a change in the tax code where a company gets a progressive tax rate depending on oil prices (This is our oil being dug from the ground, not some innovation created by creative genius). And how company gets to write off executive compensation.

And we have panels setting prices in a non-competitive markets like utility (electric, water etc...).

I think we actually had oil/gasoline shortage in Carter years.
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

In memoria.

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other involves orcs."
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

Kepler said:
Review of the movie as a movie rather than... well, you know.
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Hmm....thanks for posting the review. I didn't need to read far. What I found interesting is that fans of V for Vendetta the book were so harsh on the movie. I found the movie V for Vendetta as a fascinating movie that operated on several different levels. (I have not read the book).

Given the title and the central scene of the movie (in which V walks through fire), the movie works quite well as a re-telling of Frankenstein: the freak of nature who cannot ever have a normal human life sets out to revenge himself on his creators and falls in love with someone he cannot have.

It also works quite well as a police procedural / political suspense thriller: will our intrepid investigators find the truth? will they be deterred? will they be killed by the powers-that-be?

Then they threw in all that ancillary political commentary as a way of "messing with people" as the expression goes. He wanted revenge, and so he was a terrorist...yet the people upon whom he wanted to wreak vengeance were horrible evil tyrants, and so to the people he rescued, he was a freedom fighter too. "messing with people" in the sense that there was no "either / or" on this question, it was "both".
 
Re: Who is John Galt?

If I understand correctly, you and Kepler are complementary: he tells people what to do, and you tell people what not to do! ;)
 
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