Never has "Atlas" been more relevant than it is today. Funny how some are outraged by Rand's premises, yet the woman was an escapee from the Soviet Union who grew up seeing first-hand the evils of central-planning and corruption. That some people are angered by her defense of Capitalism tells us a lot about who they are -- they're Socialists.

They might not be ideological Socialists in the Marxian tradition, but when you look like a duck and quack like a duck and you've got webbed feet... A lot of the worst venom directed against "Atlas" comes from union boosters, who must have a guilty conscience when they self-identify with the villains in "Atlas."

Crony Capitalism is a much bigger subject. That's what gives us endorsements of Obamacare by Wal-Mart -- something that seems quite startling until we realize WHY they gave the scheme their blessing. Wal-Mart knows Socialized medicine would be terrible for the company. But they also know that it would be even worse for their competitors, like Target. Wal-Mart would absorb the blow more easily than Target and the rest, so it's a net gain for Sam Walton's company. Then there's the bailouts that many companies lined up as though they considered Washington their own personal ATM machine. Once they took the money, they discovered it came with strings attached and they didn't like that. But the damage was done.

One of the most destructive examples (that I'm sure you're already planning to cover) is the cozy relationship between automakers, autoworkers' unions, and the US government. Government passes new regulations, carmakers whine about costs, so Congressmen pass tariffs to soften the blow. Unions demand incredible benefits, carmakers know they can go to Congress for more tariffs, so they accept the terms. Consumers wind up paying for all of it, as the carmakers just raise their prices and the tariffs make sure imports are just as high. The only winners are the autoworkers, who make nice fat wages and enjoy solid gold benefits -- at least until the sales figures tank due to the high prices.

The one loser in all this is always the consumer, who gets screwed on both ends. None of it would be possible if it weren't for the cozy relationship between government and the private sector. Where government meddles, bad things tend to happen.

Another area that needs to be explored is the highly damaging relationship between Congress and foreign lobbyists. Foreign governments and companies pay many tens of millions of dollars to American lobbying firms to pressure Congressmen to pass legislation that's good for the foreign interests but usually very bad for America. So these foreign interests are buying a disproportionate influence over our government and its laws. Dick Morris has done decent work exposing this practice, but a LOT more needs to be done. The Clintons are up to their necks in this stuff, and it pains me to say that there are bound to be Republicans guilty of it as well. They all need to be examined, and the bad apples need to be thrown out -- or put in jail if their activities are found to be serious violations of law.

Oh, yknow what? You could do a whole segment on Jay Richards' critiques of Rand. They're good ones, and that discussion is always interesting. Basically, Richards tackles the whole "greed is good" mindset as both rhetorically and philosophically unsound. He approaches the matter from an Adam Smith perspective, more of a "it's not from the benevolence of the butcher or baker that we expect our dinner but from the rational pursuit of their own self-interests." In other words, it's not BECAUSE of greed (selfishness) that their businesses serve the needs of society but IN SPITE of it. Smith called it "the invisible hand." It's funny, because a self-assembling system like Capitalism really should be something Liberals would be attracted to, since they have no problem understanding the concept in the universe. Just not in economics. LOL

Just to throw out an Orren Boyle concept - a followup on the Kelo Supreme Court Decision. The city fathers decided they could generate more tax revenue if they condemned the private residential property along the waterfront, and allowed a hotel resort to develop there. The decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court, a troubling concern for all of us who own and cherish private property as one of the fundamental principles of a free civil society. To date, the private residences have been demolished, but "because of the economy" no development has commenced. So, citizens evicted, homes demolished, barren wasteland generating NO tax revenue, and not likely to anytime soon. Rand's Orren Boyle in a nutshell.

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