When will Atlas shrug?

(Denver Post, Mar. 15) What is the breaking point? Where will the resistance form? Heavy questions, but unavoidable in the current political climate. The productive members of society can only be pushed so far, some say. What they envision is not defiance of law or a reversal of the election. It is people’s growing disengagement from a new economic order that punishes effort and rewards envy – the creepy future that Bill Ritter and Barack Obama intend for us. National columnist Michelle Malkin calls that withdrawal, “going Galt.” Malkin was the first speaker last weekend when several hundred Coloradans gathered for a free-market leadership conference in Colorado Springs. Her reference was to John Galt, the individualist hero of Ayn Rand’s novel, “Atlas Shrugged.” She told of seeing a placard at the protest rally for Obama’s stimulus bill signing that warned: “Atlas will shrug.”

So what, you ask. So in human behavior, incentives matter. People are choosers, not automatons. Mess them over enough and they’re out of here. All history proves it. “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us,” the bitter joke among Soviet factory drones, sums up collectivism’s ultimate failure wherever tried.

Of course in the 1950s, when Rand was writing her epic about a slow-spreading spontaneous strike among Americans fed up with big government, tomorrow supposedly belonged to New Soviet Man. Reagan, Thatcher, and John Paul II, the three champions of freedom who would prove otherwise, weren’t yet heard of.

But we’re now told that 2008, with its routine recession and its celebrity election, showed freedom is untrustworthy after all. Economic makeover via legislative intervention is the fashion fad of 2009, driven by DC Democrats under Pelosi and Reid along with Denver Democrats under Carroll and Groff. Suddenly everyone’s a socialist, crows Newsweek. Suddenly the headlines mirror “Atlas Shrugged,” laments the Wall Street Journal.

The novel -- with John Galt as capitalist superman and Dagny Taggart, Ayn Rand’s alter ego, as railroad tycoon – may not be great literature. But its message of radical self-reliance has inspired millions across the decades. And the story is set right here. “We can’t lose Colorado. It’s our last hope,” says a Taggart employee at the start. A Rocky Mountain valley is the retreat from Galt triumphs at the end.

Retreat attendees at The Broadmoor, where Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute spoke after Malkin and “Atlas Shrugged” was assigned reading, weren’t about to unplug Galt-style from daily life in protest against wind power, national health care, and charity-choking taxes. But they took seriously the disincentive effects against wealth creation and social comity in these and other collectivist proposals. We should too.

As ever more people ride in the wagon and fewer are left to pull it, there will come a breaking point. Crowding taxation onto the highest earners and debt onto our kids, as President Obama proposes, invites collapse. Ignoring the constitution at will, as Gov. Ritter and the spending lobby do, breeds contempt. Ruin must result. Did the USA learn nothing from the USSR’s implosion, wondered Vladimir Putin recently.

Yes, we did. Cold War victory taught us the power of ideas. The East crumbled when the West asserted the superiority of liberty, wakened by thinkers like Hayek with his expose’ of the road to serfdom and Bastiat with his ridicule of “everyone seeking to live at the expense of everyone else.”

Also influential was Rand with her capitalist commandos. Galt and Taggart’s crusade was idea-powered. With moral truth they defeated the lies of something for nothing and freedom through coercion. Not even the government office of Morale Conditioner, censoring radio, could stop their entrepreneurial comeback.

Their strike against the redistributionist guilt trip was fiction. But we can shrug it off for real. Colorado could be our last hope.

'Ten Battles' surveys 2500 years

You've heard of the Battle of New Orleans, which ended the War of 1812. You may have heard of the Battle of Cowpens, a key engagement in America's war for independence. But you've likely not heard of the battles of Zama, Carrhae, Badr, Stamford Bridge, Sinop, and Khalkin Gol, nor of the Sack of Khwarezmia, nor of Israel's brilliant and epoch-making Operation Isotope in 1972.

They all deserve to be remembered today, however and all are discussed in a book I've just published; the press release follows:

Ten Battles is an exciting new book from Military Writers Press designed for the enjoyment and information of all those interested in history, the military, and important battles.

This is a striking exploration of history that can be enjoyed by both the academic and the general audience. Immediately and with enjoyable prose, author James J. Krefft takes his readers through the story of ten of history’s most important but least known battles. In a field replete with discussion of well known battles, Ten Battles examines seldom-discussed engagements that had lasting and important consequences of global significance. The book examines each of its case studies in detail and in context, discussing the prelude, actual engagement, aftermath and result with equal vigor. Readers are dazzled right off by the discussion of two Classical battles that were essential in Roman History.

The first of these is Zama, a keen engagement fought at the end of the 2nd Punic War that ended Carthage and catapulted Rome to Empire. Ten Battles then takes its readers to the desert of Iraq, where over 2000 years ago a battle was joined between horse and sword for the fate of Persia and perhaps the long term survival of the Roman Empire. Carrhae leaps off of the pages and engages the reader in one of histories most asymmetric battles, on that had lasting implications for Rome, Persia and the progress of Western Civilization in general. Next on the list of Ten Battles is Badr, an obscure and small scale affair that would have epic consequences for one of today's most prolific religions: Islam. At the time no more that a skirmish between desert tribes, Badr was still drastic as it set the context that Islam would use for expansion for the next 1000 years.

Next comes 1066, and an important battle fought in the wilds of England between Anglo-Saxon and Viking. Angry Vikings and angry Saxons clash at Stamford Bridge with nothing less then the future of the Vikings, England and even the Norman conquest at stake. The first half of the book is finished off with a discussion of the fame and infamy of Genghis Khan and his Mongol horseman. The Sack of Khwarezmia is a tragic tale, one of siege warfare, indirect theater based warfare and shameless slaughter. But Khwarezmia is also an important turning point in the course of Central Asia and the wider Mongol conquest.

Ten Battles starts you with 5 interesting and important battles but then gives you five more. In the second half of the book readers are taken through: Cowpens in the American Revolution, New Orleans in the War of 1812, then the Russians and Ottomans face off at Sinop, the Japanese and Soviets at Khalkhin Gol and finally the IDF and Terrorists during Operation Isotope in 1972. Ten Battles is a fast paced and entertaining book that informs readers on battles that might otherwise slip through the cracks. In elegant word in gives the reader a detailed and manageable course in the basics of battle, military campaign, and historical repercussion. Ten Battles answers fundamental questions about the progress of history by looking at root causes and the results of the formative events of some of histories most important trends. By understanding why things happened as they did we get a better idea of how to move forward with our future.

Excerpts from Ten Battles

** Just as an argument can be made for his brilliance, another can be made that Hannibal was another general whose spectacular tactical and strategic ability took him the length of the field, but not into the end zone. Unable to finish, he was betrayed far from home and died to join the likes of other spectacular but likewise unsuccessful commanders such as Rommel, Lee, Napoleon, and Attila.-Ten Battles, Zama

** A contingent of 40,000 Turks and slave soldiers had been supplemented by 60,000 irregular conscripts, and city fathers had amassed over three years of provisions in granaries and stores. Containers with water had been placed throughout the city, and the streets had been widened to inhibit the spread of fires. With all this said, it would take the Mongols only three days to take Samarkand.-Ten Battles, Khwarezmia

** Some Japanese units made it out of the Soviet encirclement, but when Komatsubara reached the safety of Japanese territory he had only four hundred survivors, meaning the 23rd Division had suffered over 90 percent casualties.-Ten Battles, Khalkhin-Gol

** In a world rife with Jihad, today’s governments would not have special-forces CT without this one small-scale battle fought in May 1972 at Lod Airport east of Tel Aviv, Israel. Operation Isotope pioneered the strategy, tactics, and toolkit of special-forces CT, and the engagement should be credited for what it accomplished and what it launched.-Ten Battles, Operation Isotope

For kids' gifts, try Lynne Cheney books

Looking for last minute gifts for children on your Christmas list? Consider the timeless gift of a book. In a world of video games and computerized toys, it can be hard to sell the notion of finding a quietspot on a winter afternoon to read during the school break, but we should at least try!

You may need to go online to find some of these books. During a recent shopping trip to both Borders and Barnes and Noble, I was unable to find many of them. (Of note, for those in search of children's books on Barack Obama, Borders has a hefty selection in the Children's History section.)

Later in the day I stopped at the public library branch near my home to check out some books about Christmas--Christmas as in 'Christ', not Santa. I couldn't find hardly a one, so I asked for assistance. I was told there was a big display of 'holiday' and Kwanza books on a table, but that the few Christian-type Christmas books would be located in the Children's Mythology Section.

Possible selections for your consideration include any of the children's books written by Lynne Cheney. "When Washington Crossed the Delaware", "We the People", "A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America", "America: A Patriotic Primer", and "A is for Abigail" are remarkable, both from a literary standpoint as well as in illustration. Her books are beautiful and the proceeds benefit charity.

There is also "Lessons on Liberty: A Primer for Young Patriots" by Peter Lillback and Judy Mitchell. Again, the chances of finding some of these books may be limited but if you are diligent, you may be able to uncover other treasures such as, "Discover Nature in Winter" by Elizabeth Lawlor and "The Adventurous Boy's Handbook" by Tim and Stephen Brennan. "Everyday Graces: A Child's Book of Good Manners", written by Karen Santorum (Rick's wife) is wonderful, as is "The National Review Treasury of Classic Children's Literature" by the late William F. Buckley, Jr. "The Miracle of St. Nicholas" by Gloria Whelan is a delightful story for this time of year.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and may a special child in your life find a wonderful book under the tree this year.

Messiah pulls a Machiavelli

An item on the news today mentioned that the President-elect is planning to reverse ALL executive orders immediately, that his team is preparing the documentation as we speak. The commentator said, “If he did all of them at once, it would give the furor time to die down”. Did not Machiavelli advise the Prince “to kill his enemies all at once and not one at a time” for the very same reason? I believe the new administration will move swiftly and brutally to implement their agenda, pushing their opponents off balance, a balance never to be regained.

The Republicans who say, “Let’s support the new President and give him a chance” may find themselves permanently emasculated politically before they realize it.

Maybe it is time to search our libraries for our copy of “The Prince” and give it a thorough re-read!

Race & the Constitution: Remedial 101

While the mortgage mess gets sorted out, let's circle back to an important moment the other day when Whoopi Goldberg the celebrity and John McCain the presidential candidate both displayed abysmal ignorance of how durably the U.S. Constitution has fulfilled its declared purpose "to establish justice" for over 220 years now. Appearing on ABC's "The View," McCain said he'd appoint judges "who interpret the Constitution of the United States the way our Founding Fathers envisioned," to which panelist Goldberg flippantly retorted: “Should I be worried about being a slave, about being returned to slavery? Because certain things happened in the Constitution that you had to change.”

McCain then conceded, heaven help him: “I understand that point. That’s an excellent point.” The video is here; notice from the applause that many in the audience seemed to think it an excellent point as well.

Ross Kaminsky took Mac to the woodshed, but good, for his constitutional and historical illiteracy on PoliticsWest.com a couple of days later. Excellent post. What Ross didn't do, and what I haven't read anywhere, is suggest an actual answer, suitable for the moment on live TV, that the GOP candidate should have given. As a onetime speechwriter, let me give it a try.

Thanks for asking that. I know it's a question in many people's minds, as a result of confusion spread by historians, educators, and politicians who don't know better. But here are the facts.

It is only because of the Constitution and judges who were faithful to it that black Americans are free and equal citizens today

The Constitution enabled the northern states to battle the southern states, first politically and then militarily, at the cost of half a million white people's lives, until slavery was ended and blacks were emancipated. After that victory, the Constitution was strengthened from a document that disapproved slavery into one that forever disallows slavery.

The Constitution is also what Dr. King, Justice Marshall, and Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson used to finally end segregation and guarantee civil rights for all.

Going forward, the Constitution and courts faithful to it are the best protection our country has for securing majority rule and minority rights in a free society. You and I should be grateful for that, and vigilant about it.

The last thing we want in America today is public officials who ignore the Constitution like the judges who denied black citizenship with the Dred Scott decision, the slave state governments who seceded and went to war, or the southern governors who resisted school desegregation.

That's what I want to prevent by appointing judges who will keep their oath to the Constitution without fail.

And by the way, Whoopi, those Dred Scott judges and secessionist states and Jim Crow governors were all Democrats, all of them. The Democratic Party has had a really shameful record on racial equality until very recently.

It was my party, the Republicans, who freed the slaves, led the way on school desegregation, and passed the first civil rights bill of modern times. Our country's historic ideal of liberty and justice for all, the envy of the world for over 200 years, is safest in Republican hands for this new century.

The above argument is less developed and documented than Ross's fine piece on Sept. 15, but it's plausible, I think, as something a real politician with his civic compass in working order could have said under those real circumstances in which McCain found himself on Sept. 12. Too bad he didn't; this now becomes one more reinforcement of the Big Lie that our country was founded on hypocrisy, amorality, and racism.

The best refutation for that lie that I know of is a pair of books in which massive, conclusive evidence is presented for the case which I've made here and which Ross made in his earlier post. Those books, both by colleagues of mine at the Claremont Institute, are Vindicating the Founders by Thomas G. West and Vindicating Lincoln by Thomas Krannawitter. Buy them, read them. Maybe buy extras to send Mr. McCain. They'd be wasted, I'm afraid, if sent to Ms. Goldberg.