Atlas, tea, the mob.

Two years ago, sitting at my kitchen table and talking with a friend while sipping a cup of coffee and inhaling with nonchalance the all-damaging tobacco smoke, the idea of secession hijacked our conversation until late into the night. It is not hard to imagine how this would start to grow roots, especially today when we can see the first whiskers of that concept emerging. It's still a long way to go, but like anything that has the capacity to mature, yet with the right incubation, it might become the beginning run toward an unwanted finish line.

The Paradox

Those who are familiar with objectivism and with its most prominent philosopher, Ayn Rand, have read Atlas Shrugged, or if not, they certainly saw or heard the latest news coverage of the “tea parties” or are familiar with The Republican and The Libertarian parties.

I am not implying that Ayn Rand would embrace these tea gatherings, but most definitely she asphalted the foundation of, for the most part, the demagogic speech of its organizers. It's not the purpose of this letter to debate the true signification of “Atlas Shrugged” because Ayn Rand deserves a least more space than these 30-40 lines. However, to quickly accustom the reader with Rand's concept of Atlas, I must mention that Atlas personifies the big businesses (and/or large trusts/corporations) of our present day. Ayn Rand argues (same as the founding father but to a lesser extent) that the human in pursuit of happiness must have little or no restrictions while following the dream. (This concept is much broader, it refers to everything not just material wealth).

By this rationale, the human while gathering extreme wealth will have those beneath him (wealth wise) benefiting as well. That particular human created jobs so those who couldn't reach the same level of happiness can have a few crumbs to pay the rent and just a bit more for the daily necessities. Beautiful, isn't it?

Without rules, we would be a slave society – which we aren't that far ahead from it, anyway. Even so, Atlas stampedes those rules and gets punished only symbolically, once in a while, just to close the mob's mouth. I am too for the pursuit of happiness. Who isn't? Only that it's impossible in a plebeian World. The masses are too easily manipulated. They are dumb. Less is more. Less mob, more individuals wit an equal chance at pursuing that fucking happiness. Now, it's more like one million hunters go in the forest but there is only one fucking rabbit. Guess what happens?

Fortunately, this time Atlases didn't shrug, they stumbled in the sewage. And us, the crumbs, have to bail them out.

Tell the dumb mob what it wants to hear, use it, achieve your purpose than discarded like a used condom. No alimony to pay.

As any human of reason, Rand had no room in her life for any deity. Yet, at the tea party, on one banner was written “Atlas Shrugged” and another banner read “We are a Christian Nation”.