Who's John Galt?

Okay, I know who John Galt is, but what's up with all the news stories citing him and asking "Who's John Galt?" For those of you who haven't read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, he's the hero, but in the book the question is asked in the sense of "who knows," or something like that.

I liked Atlas Shrugged, even better than The Fountainhead, but it's really over the top. Her thesis is that government was bad, really bad, and unfettered capitalism is good. It's a great book, and I've heard Angelina Jolie was going to play Dagny Taggart, but the premise is bogus.

But consider the author -- Ayn Rand was Russian. For some reason, they seem to have embraced a lot of "new" political and social ideas (mainly from France), and tended to take them to the extreme. I'm not sure what that means, but hopefully someone will figure it out before things get out of hand.

But let me be clear: I'm happy to pay my taxes because I believe in democracy and representative government. I happily served my country as a United States Marine, and have no regrets. However, it looks like I'm finally in the (super) minority, because fewer than 10% of Americans have served in the military, and former Marines compose an even smaller group.

I support universal conscription with no exceptions (you can use the Peace Corps or some other form of national service for conscientious objectors). Let's see how many bogus wars we get into when the rich and powerful have to send their sons and daughters into harms way.