To my dear friends, brothers, and sisters in the great fight for human liberty and reason:
I am the man who loves his life. In the name of that love, I come to you today with the first of what will be several messages to be delivered to you over the next many years. I am one of you, and from among you. I will not reveal my identity at the present time, though it will eventually be made known when I choose to make it known, on my terms. For now, you may call me John Galt.
Today, the fourteenth of December, 2008, events have been set into motion that will alter the course of human history. As a result, I give you a promise: you will see freedom—one hundred percent, undiluted, inviolate freedom—within your lifetime. Freedom to speak as you wish, to believe as you wish, to publish as you wish, to travel as you wish, to hold and defend your property as you wish, to live free from fear, death, spying, robbery, and imprisonment. Most importantly, I promise you the unhampered freedom to think, to produce, to be productive, and to keep for yourself all the products of your labor. This last point is the most important of my announcement to you today.
I wish to bring to your attention one of the fatal flaws in our response to tyranny and apathy. That flaw is the fact that it is “a response.” Merely a response, a reaction, a reflex.
In fighting our mutual enemy, it is proper that you and I should know clearly his nature. What better way to know the nature of our enemy—of what he feels, of what he desires, of what end he seeks and what means he will use to achieve that end—than to know and recognize what it is that he fears and resents most?
Let us consider: Why does he initiate aggression, war, and murder, if not because he fears and resents life and the act of living? Why does he inundate your senses with propaganda, demand control over your education and that of your children, and fund institutions of “higher education” that preach irrationality, if not because he fears and resents the mind and the act of thinking? Why does he institute a thick web of controls and regulations on your ingenuity, and why does he tax your labor progressively heavier as you produce more and more, if not because he fears and resents production and the act of producing? Why does he presume to take and redistribute the fruits of your labor, giving most to those who produce least, if not because he fears and resents prosperity and the act of prospering?
And therein is the key to our battle.
Our enemy’s greatest fears are that his subjects will think, produce, prosper, and live, because he knows that as long as his subjects wish to do these things, and do them, his power over you is always in jeopardy.
The man who prospers, does so because he produces. The man who produces, does so because he thinks. The man who thinks, does so because he wishes to live. And the man who wishes to live does not tolerate physical violence against his self and his property. He vigorously resists any attempt by another to rob, enslave, or kill him. Production of goods, the creation of wealth and value from untapped resources, is the greatest threat our enemy faces. The medium we use to exchange that wealth, the lockbox in which we preserve the value of that wealth, is, of course, money. “Making money” is, thus, merely another term for “producing wealth.”
While we must continue to resist our common enemy through political means, if nothing else but to serve as a guide and record of our existence for future generations, we will never achieve total victory over our enemy through the political means of voting, campaigning, writing, calling, or petitioning. Our greatest weapon is to do that which our enemy fears most.
We must no longer think of ourselves merely as defenders against tyranny and apathy, but rather offenders of tyranny and apathy. We are not as numerous as our opponents, but we must no longer be merely “the remnant,” but rather we must become “the elite.” We must no longer be merely the resisters of tyranny, attempting to hold the ground of the little liberty and prosperity we have left—no, we must not be the resisters, but the Conquerors. We must become Atlas.
What must we conquer, you ask? We must conquer every industry, every type of commerce, great and small. We must reach down into our mind—our brilliant, wonderful mind—find our desire to live, and latch on to it. We must draw as much strength as we can from the love we have for our life, and channel that passion into our work, to find exhilaration in the purpose of our action, to be as productive as possible, to out-compete our competitors, to out-compete even our coworkers, to come up with the best ideas and inventions, and to rise as quickly as possible to the very tops of our fields of industry. Gain as much expertise and make as much money as you can. Let making money, getting rich, producing wealth and creating value become the driving force of your every action. Then use the knowledge and wisdom you have acquired to guard that wealth by storing your value in real money—gold and other trustworthy commodities.
By the nature of reality, contradictions cannot exist. There is a reason why those who love liberty, even though we are the smartest, wisest, most capable, and most resourceful our society has to offer, have never been able to rise to the top in politics, and there is a reason why those rare instances in history where lovers of liberty have been able to rise to the top of politics have been so short-lived. If this seems like a paradox to you, then check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.
Dearest, I am not asking you to forgo all political action, but I am asking you to make your political goals subservient to your industrial goals. The highest mission of “libertarians” must not be to conquer the political structure, now, but to conquer the area of commerce. This is our most important goal.
However, this is only Step One.
The nature of the arrangements that I have made do not require any or all of you to take my advice. The events that have been set into motion today will take place, regardless. But in order for you to benefit when these events come to fruition, the more money you have, and the more soundly your wealth is protected, the more you personally will benefit. Why am I telling you this? Because I am an altruist? Forbid such a notion! I am an egoist. I trade value for value. I do this for my own personal benefit and satisfaction and none other. But you will have more to offer me, and more to offer one another, if you now strive to become the Conquerors of Industry.
You are asking: if this is only Step One, then what is Step Two? All in good time. I will notify you when we are ready to proceed further. Until then, concentrate on serving your own self interests. I vow to you, that as long as I am still alive, I will deliver to you on every fourteenth of December a message.
Do not misunderstand. I am not going to lead you, nor will I attempt to dictate your personal actions. I refuse to be a leader. I am one of you, no more and no less. Each of you must be the leader of your own life and your own destiny. My role in the oncoming mission we are about to undertake is only as a wayfarer. I go ahead of you into the darkness to prepare a way.
If, during the next several years, you hear of strange events in the world that no rationality can seem to explain, know that you have a friend who is clearing a path for you. Remember: by the nature of reality, contradictions cannot exist. A is A. If a major world event seems to suggest to you that A is not A, then check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.
Dearest, it is time for us to go on the offense, to recognize our superiority, and assume the role of Conquerors. Through your hard work, patient wisdom, and creative ingenuity, make as much money as you possibly can. Remember my promise.
Sincerely Yours,
In the name of the best within us,
John Galt
