John Galt Sez...

On my way into the bank this afternoon, I walked past a van with two bumper stickers. One read "Don't Tread On Me" and featured the familiar serpent. The other said

I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine. -John Galt

My initial thought was to wonder what kind of fantasy world people like this live in, and I'm still wondering that.

In the first place, there is not and never has been a John Galt who swore on life, love, God, or anything else. He's a fiction -- a character in a novel who never actually risked anything, sacrificed anything, or did anything at all. He's an invention of Ayn Rand, a woman whose psychological well-being depended on acolytes who sat at her feet and nodded solemnly at every banal pronouncement she made.

Anyway, I wanted to tell the owner of this car, you live in something called a society, which by its very nature implies mutual interdependence. For example, you're depending on me not to punch you in the face because I don't like your stupid bumper sticker, and should I give you a right cross, you're dependent on societal good will to sanction me.

That van you're driving? It's safe because another man fought for safety standards.

Remember that first house you bought? In all likelihood, you purchased it through a government-sponsored lending program that limited your down payment, put a ceiling on your closing costs, and made a favorable interest rate available -- all enabling you to buy a better home in a nicer neighborhood than you would have otherwise.

Every day, poor people pay for the lifestyle you enjoy.

Do you have health insurance? Your co-payments are subsidized by the uninsured. Those nice suburban hospitals? You get to use them because health care is a zero-sum game, and the suburbs have modern, up-to-date facilities in part because inner city hospitals are falling apart.

Those clothes you're wearing? You couldn't afford them unless they were made by underpaid, exploited workers in a Chinese factory.

Same with the produce you eat: All harvested by underpaid, exploited migrant workers.

You like drinking and bathing in clean water? What about eating safe food? Or sleeping soundly at night? Other men and women serving as police officers, soldiers, and sailors protect you. What about your Constitutional rights? People have died so that you can fire your penis pistol at the local shooting range.

Do the world a favor: Grow up and stop the Nathan Hale wannabe thing. It's really quite pathetic.