Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum

Atlas Shrugged received largely negative reviews from critics immediately after its 1957 publication, as did all of Ayn Rand's works, but has achieved enduring popularity and consistent sales for more than 50 years. Despite its' early negative reviews, the novel reached as high as 4th on the NY Times bestseller list in its' first year of publication. The reading public has always understood the logic and value of Rand's work, even though the left leaning press has always been critical. The Economist magazine and The New York Times reports that Atlas Shrugged sales have sharply increased since the fall of 2008. "The Economist reported that the fifty-two-year-old novel ranked #33 among Amazon.com's top-selling books on January 13, 2009 and that its thirty day sales average showed the novel selling three times faster than during the same period of the previous year. With an attached sales chart, The Economist reported that sales "spikes" of the book seemed to coincide with the release of economic data."(1)

This is news all by itself. While the American people remain what is considered by most a center right populace, we reach out in increasing numbers for the most famous of all published far right wing capitalists, a Russian immigrant, who saw first hand how the collective, progressive left ends up in its purest form. We are living the beginning of Atlas Shrugged in real life, right now, in the United States. Rand saw the dangers of the progressive left, even in 1950s America. We can only dream of the mythical John Galt, or even the more human Hank Reardon, but we will be seeing soon, those who will withdraw from leadership positions in business and finance, if for no other reason than to protect their wealth, their dignity, and the freedom of their own intellect and productivity.

I don't believe it will stop with the leaders and the wealthy. The middle class in our country has achieved a far loftier and comfortable position than ever before in the history of mankind. 401k and IRA statutes, along with more than 20 years of prosperity beginning with Ronald Reagan has produced many working class millionaires, who have saved religiously, invested conservatively, and even with the dramatic losses incurred during the last two bubble failures, remain a force to be reckoned with. These members of the middle class will not give up their status without a fight. The numbers are in favor of the center right, the middle class, and those who stand to lose the most. The very wealthy can protect themselves regardless of the policies of the government. Those whose fortunes depend on the viability of the American economy, and especially the dollar are now in a position to force the government into political positions favored by the majority, in spite of the recent proclivity of Congress to ignore the demands of the public.

That is not to say the day can be won without considerable sacrifice. The young people in our current society have been blessed to have never been expected to do without. The children and especially the grandchildren of the baby boomers possess an attitude of entitlement like no other generation in history. They may very well espouse liberal leanings today, but once times get tough in the United States, liberal values will gain them no place in lines at grocery stores, where food is scarce. Credit cards will be worthless, paper money, only valuable in huge sums, and bartering will become the rule for those who remain respectful. Others, not as inclined toward respect will resort to theft, intimidation, and violence. Those who prepare now will stand the best chance of survival, even the means to thrive. For those who do not prepare, and are not aware of the dangers an economic failure will produce, only good fortune or a strong family connection will permit economic survival.

The liberal press and the political elite scoffed at the Tea Party movement last February. They began to marginalize and demean those who were standing up and demanding to be heard after the April 15th Tax Day Tea Parties. Around the country the numbers were in the hundreds of thousands or more, despite the mainstream media's claims of far lesser numbers. On the weekend of 9/12/2009, I was in Washington D. C. and saw for myself what I later learned to be over one million protesters. The press at the time reluctantly reported the protesters to be in the tens of thousands. This show of strength started some to worry, and Nancy Pelosi no longer called us the astro-turf movement. The elections in VA and NJ in November were more worrisome for the left, even though they took heart that the Tea Party made a fatal error in the NY 23rd district race. Political adolescence led to a split of the conservative vote, and gave the democrats a seat they had not held in decades. This was a mistake that will not be repeated. I recently learned that the Tea Party Patriots number 15 million strong!

The Massachusetts Senate race changed the political landscape in this country forever. One single election at the state level has never changed the entire course of an administration, particularly one that only a year earlier appeared ready and able to fundamentally change America into a Social Democracy, modeled after the Europeans. President Obama had a super majority in the Senate, a huge majority in the House, an apparently strong mandate from the people, and yet, he failed on all but his first piece of major legislation! His first year in office goes now into the history books as a dismal failure. He, and his Chicago cronies, while brilliant on the campaign trail, have proved themselves totally inept when it comes to governing.

What a break that has turned out to be for the republic. This has saved our country from certain political disaster, but we still face economic failure, possible hyper inflation, what appears to be an insurmountable debt, unfunded liabilities that will handcuff future generations, and a President who hasn't given up the notion of fundamental change. We have a long, hard road ahead of us. Ayn Rand's vision, the fundamental strength of the constitution, and the people we still are, as a result of what our founders left us more than 233 years ago, can still prevail.

Atlas Shrugged has been seen as highly influential in conservative and libertarian circles, while sharply rebuked by the liberal establishment in academia and among progressives at every level. This is not news in times such as these when the left and right in America are far more polarized than at any other time in our history. Such stalwarts as Alan Greenspan and William F. Buckley Jr. were part of Rand's inner group in 1950s New York conservative circles, when conservatism was even more rare in NY than it is today, be that possible. Buckley wound up as one of Rand's many enemies after allowing a harsh critical review of Atlas Shrugged as editor of the National Review. He tried unsuccessfully to get back in her good graces for years, and decades after Rand's death, Buckley still considered her one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century.

The novel is widely considered the second most influential book to American readers, after the Bible. I can say, now that my mother has passed, Ayn Rand's works, including Atlas Shrugged, have affected my life to the positive more than any other literary or philosophical consideration. My mother first introduced me to Atlas Shrugged in the summer before my senior year in high school. Then, as in other trying times in my personal life, I turned to Atlas to get my life back on track, and it has worked, for the most part.

Seeing increased sales in the novel gives me heart now especially, after the inspiring victory of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senatorial election. I am not hesitant to admit I have been very very afraid for the continuation of our republic, and likewise with my own ability to successfully survive in a society where the government is intent on redistributing the wealth of its citizens. There are highly influential groups of mostly bankers, politicians, members of the mainstream press, and the uber-wealthy who are uncomfortable with the middle class in America being in a position of power and strength, for really the first time in the history of mankind. I am speaking primarily of The Bilderberg Group, first organized in 1954, as well as The Trilateral Commission, established by David Rockefeller in 1972, after the Bilderberg Group refused to admit members from Japan.

This is the sort of talk condemned by the media as conspiracy theories, but the mainstream media, particularly its' most elite members have a seat at the table, including such media barons as Andrew Knight of England, Nicolas Beytout of France, and George Stephanopoulos, who has apparently taken the spot formerly occupied by the late William F. Buckley Jr. These two groups wield significant control of the U. S. Fed, the World Bank, have vast holdings in the equity and commodity markets, and determine many of the social, political and financial decisions that affect our everyday lives. It is no coincidence that the whole of Western Europe and North America has entered into identical financial disaster at or about the same time. Their ultimate goals are one world governance and one world currency, and they were well on their way to success until recently. The current public outcry and apparent resurgence of American constitutionalists may well be just a bump in the road, as it is still possible that we are just one more major crisis short of that fundamental change Barack Obama has promised.

With debt in the free world at such astounding numbers, there appears only two ways for the United States to work its' way out of a major default, at least according to the government spokespersons and the media. Hyper-inflation is one way government could reduce the debt. The government could continue spending at the currently unsustainable rate, until it has the Fed jack up the interest rates, at which point it would be impossible to service the debt of the country, or the debt of the average citizen. The only winner in this scenario is the government, who can repay the foreign debt with devalued currency, as the printing presses remain running night and day. In that event, your measly nest egg becomes virtually worthless, if you have dollar denominated investments, which the vast majority of Americans do.

In fact, the rules of the majority of 401ks in this country allow no investment outside our borders, other than minor amounts inside typical mutual funds. If you have adhered to the principle that comfortable retirement requires 80% of your pre-retirement income, and you need to create that 80% by collecting a modest 4% return on your principle, by the way a very conservative approach through 2007, you are no longer able to achieve your desired result without taking significantly more risk than one should during retirement. While that may seem like a minor issue today, we could get news as soon as next week that would turn our entire economy upside down.

The second false choice is paralyzing increases in taxes, particularly on the so called wealthy, who consist of many small business owners, the creators of the jobs we need to get back on the road to recovery. The third choice that the majority in Congress scoffs at daily is a major reduction in spending, and dramatic cuts in taxes. There is no choice without pain. We must cut back on entitlement spending, defense spending, government workers, and every other section of the $3.8 Trillion budget. When business has more going out than coming in, they cut across the board, but logically. They don’t cut 100% of their marketing budget, while paying out the same in salaries and dividends. Deep, painful cuts must be made where possible, while small painful cuts have to be made everywhere else. Nothing is sacred when you face economic ruin, and make no mistake we are facing a severe economic failure, in spite of the bailouts of the banks, and the stimulus pork barrel spending bill.

The dollar has been the dominant world reserve currency since the end of WWII. The dollar is still the strongest of all world currencies, even though we abandoned the gold standard in the early 1970s when our inflation rate was so high, France in particular, demanded gold in exchange for every dollar they held. Richard Nixon adeptly avoided that bullet, by decoupling the dollar from the gold standard. As our debt now approaches 90% of our GDP, other countries, especially Islamic countries are calling for a new world currency, or a basket of currencies that does not include king dollar. Five of the six Islamic states constituting the Gulf Cooperation Council including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are calling for a new world currency as early as 2010. The sixth, Oman, pulled out of the agreement last year. Such an act would immediately and irreparably devalue our monetary system and bring about economic chaos in our nation. The Europeans have already withdrawn their sovereign currencies in favor of the Euro. The next step is to bring us down to the rest of the world.

It probably won't happen in 2010, but it will happen ultimately. Our leaders in Washington keep spending us into oblivion in the face of this knowledge. It is we, the people of the United States that will suffer greatly when our currency is devalued by high interest rates, the creation of a new international reserve monetary system, or likely as not, both! It is therefore, we, the people, who must take control of our country, get rid of our politically elite class that has become tantamount to the royals of the European Continent our founding fathers managed to escape.

Ayn Rand saw in our country; the remarkably independent, industrious, and entrepreneurial spirit, created by the genius of the constitutional rights left us by the founders, and the unique ability to celebrate the brilliance of the mind and the fruits of our labor. We have achieved in a little over 200 years, the kind of life that even the Kings, Lords, and Barons who lived for thousands of years before us never even dreamed about. We have invented, perfected, and harnessed the power of physics, mathematics, and even the very building blocks of life to create for ourselves every imaginable comfort, pleasure, and necessity of life, even while doubling the average life expectancy.

Now the progressives, under the same old guise, "for the good of the whole", want to control every aspect of our lives. They would tell us what to eat, how to raise our children, punish us with taxes for using any of creations that have made life a celebration. They even want to tax the air we breathe out, under the assumption that Co2, one of the requirements for life on the planet, is harmful to us and our Earth. We now find ourselves poised to come under the heavy hand of Wesley Mouche, and while we may have no Galt's Gulch to retire to for a time, we have the knowledge, the power, and the insight Rand left us. We know very well how this will play out, if we do nothing. We have started already with a movement that is gaining momentum every day. Pick up a pen; put your elected representatives on notice. Use your PC to find those in your city, district, and state who are ready and able to lead. Prepare for the absolute worse. Collect items with intrinsic value. Pull your family close around you. Get rid of all debt at any cost, while preserving a safe place to carry out your life during hard times. We have a constitution, a country, and way of life, as well as our children's futures to protect. We have everything we need to do it, including Atlas Shrugged, from which we can see the present, and light our way into the future.