Having "Gone Galt" for 15 years. What works and what hasn't.
Posted by NeilMXY 8 years, 12 months ago to Going Galt
I was homesteading in remote Alaska by the 1990's. In 2001 I began restoring an Alaskan ghost town. It has always felt like Going Galt to me. After 15 years I have two small hotels, a few little retail stores, a saloon and a fine dining restaurant.
Some strange twists and turns along the way -. indeed - even some premise checking!
I am looking forward to sharing my examples in hopes it encourages those who take ideas seriously.
I am curious if there are others in this group who have been going Galt for years.
Some strange twists and turns along the way -. indeed - even some premise checking!
I am looking forward to sharing my examples in hopes it encourages those who take ideas seriously.
I am curious if there are others in this group who have been going Galt for years.
Previous comments... You are currently on page 3.
There have been a lot of problems with the National Park Service in Alaska, especially in McCarthy where inholders have been harassed and bullied as NPS blocks owner access to private property either directly or through attempts to impose enormous, punitive fees. You are lucky NPS doesn't have eminent domain authority like it does in other units of the National Park System. But it has routinely seized private mining claims across Alaska.
Being in a remote, quiet rural area in many places in the country leads to a false sense of security and safety. When you are out in the woods it can seem that you are safely away from the bureaucracy, but you aren't. Bureaucrats don't have to be there to impose control. Most people don't know that in Alaska in particular less than 1/2 of 1% of the land is privately owned -- everything else is controlled by the Federal government, the state, and the Native Corporations (Indian tribes). ANILCA (from the end of the Carter administration) has been a disaster for Alaska, turning it into more of a Federal colony than a state.
sort of pamphlet magazine with a green cover; I
got it for a little while, and then Ayn Rand closed it
and started putting out The Ayn Rand Letter). I
sent for a couple of back issues, out of curiosity
about two articles. One was "To Whom It May
Concern" and the other was "A Statement of
Policy". As I recall from these, Ayn Rand was
not very enthusiastic about people's trying to
start a "Gult's Gulch" out in some remote area.
She did list certain conditions under which it
would be "time to quit", two of these being one-
party rule, and censorship.
What I have been trying to do is promote
Objectivism within the existing society. I don't
say that the time to quit can never come, but I
don't think it has yet.
Since you recognize you are sitting on your true potential, perhaps if you can spell out your potential, recognize the gap in how well your performance matches your potential, and you will have a gap that you can close.
I am not completely off the government grid. I did have to create my own grid (water, septic, electrical systems). I'd say you are correct to recognize the limitations in my version of going "gulch".
Although not perfect, I'd file my case example under the heading: "Excellence prevents good"
Why gather with others at all? What I learned is how the gathering of self reliant individuals is a gathering of skills. This gathering creates community while allowing for each individual to remain un-coerced. I find Alaska remarkable on many levels. Not the least of which is the intelligence and productivity that it requires to thrive without much of society's infrastructure.
I saw Galt's Gulch as representing the conscious decision making of individuals to gather as a group and create a community that thrives only because of individual expressions of productivity. It took persuasion by Galt - ideas had to be taken seriously by the characters, who in turn had to check their premises, as Rand would say. Packing up and leaving society is seldom as fearless as in fiction. Most in my community have come to it with a love of nature and a repulsion of man. So I am in conflict with some of my neighbors. There is little if any coercion because of the tolerance that comes from self reliance.
I also learned some real limits to what can be done without infrastructure. So I have built much infrastructure within the community over the past 15 years. Homesteading can be a do it alone version of shrugging. In community, I work with those that can apply unique skills to my projects.
David Kelly's objectivism with tolerance - is a style of objectivist philosophy that works well for me in a community of mixed agenda. It's the mixed agenda that makes this area far less than Rand's Gulch.
In my case, I create opportunity for myself, and in turn others - In 2001 I had a couple of employees. My companies employee 37 individuals now, and many are the same locals each year.
Of the 3 dozen year around residents, most are carving a life out of the wilderness. A few are leadership in my organization. Some are just there for the summer to have a great time.
Here is how I know it works for me: I have pursued and found my happiness.
We are filming season 3 now. Although I would hesitate to call the show a platform for Objectivist reality tv - it is enjoyable to be a part of, especially because our stories do involve freedom, self reliance, community and the individual.
Jeremy Keller - the homesteader who does not want changes in the area, is more of a conflicted luddite than an objectivist. He wears an "Atlas Has Shrugged" sweatshirt for the first two seasons. Probably as an anti - Rand statement more than pro-objectivst.
I see someone wearing an AS shirt in the preview! Is that you!?
Mahalo,
iSank