Enough people I pay attention to referenced “Who Is John Galt?” for me to want to understand the meaning / origins. I thought others might be interested in this, and the links to e/acc and techno optimism. Read on if this is you.
Origins of the phrase
The phrase – Who is John Galt? – originates from Ayn Rand’s 1957 Novel “Atlas Shrugged”.
“Atlas Shrugged” is a really long and deep novel, that explores the conflict between individualism and collectivism within a dystopian United States – it paints a picture that feels very familiar to the world as I see it right now – and it seems many feel the same (see tweet above re living through an Ayn Rand / Orwell mash-up).
Any refusal to recognize reality, for any reason whatever, has disastrous consequences. There are no evil thoughts except one: the refusal to think.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
“Who is John Galt?” is initially used by Characters in the book to serve as an expression of despair, symbolising society’s resignation to its declining state – the feeling of declining power/capability is an emotion many from Europe can resonate with. It is unclear initially in the book where it originated from and if John Galt is a ‘real’ person.
As the narrative unfolds, the significance of this phrase deepens. Eventually John Galt is revealed as the mastermind behind a strike of the world’s leading innovators, protesting against the stifling of creativity and productivity by an overreaching government. The underlying meaning of the phrase evolves from a sign of despair to a beacon of rebellion and individualism.
“We all have a John Galt within us, yearning to be free.”
Chip Wilson, Lululemon Founder
Atlas Shrugged – The heroes
The main (heroic) characters are Dagny, Hank, Francisco and John. I set out below how i see parallels with them and what’s happening in the modern world.
Dagny Taggart
The story centers on Dagny Taggart, the Vice President in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental. She is driven by a love for her work and a profound belief in the power of the human mind and hard work. Throughout the novel she is battling to keep her family’s railroad operational – against the backdrop of government control, economic collapse and growing incompetence around her – as the world’s greatest minds and most capable people disappear from society.
“Dagny, how did you do it? How did you manage to remain unmangled?” “By holding to just one rule.” “Which?” “To place nothing—nothing—above the verdict of my own mind.”
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Parallels to the modern world:
Dagny’s struggles maintaining her rail road will feel very familiar with the state of rail infrastructure in the UK or US. For example this graphic sets out the original and revised plan for the UK’s High Speed 2 (HS2) network:
- HS2 was aimed at creating a high-speed railway to connect London, Birmingham, Manchester, and eventually the North of England and Scotland
- This plan was originally to complete the initial phase in 2026, which has now been pushed to 2033. In tandem with the delay the budget has spiralled from an initial estimate of £33 billion in 2011, to projections of over £100 billion.
- The plan has since been cut to just one route from London to Birmingham (225km)
- Contrast this with China, where the 1,300 km Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway was built in 3 years from 2008 to 2011.
Hank Rearden
Dagny’s main pillar of support in the novel is Hank Rearden, an industrialist and inventor of ‘Rearden Metal’ – a revolutionary new alloy being lighter, stronger, and more durable than traditional steel.
Hank forms an alliances with Dagny and supplies Rearden Metal to her despite government attempts to capture all supply. He battles to protect his invention from societal looters and to prove its value against vested interests with strong government lobby, and entrenched skepticism fanned by the mainstream media.
He is dedicated to his work and his invention and holds strong capitalist ideals which he refuses to relinquish in the face of cohersion and bad press:
“I refuse to apologize for my ability — I refuse to apologize for my success — I refuse to apologize for my money.”
(Voice of Hank Rearden) Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Parallels to the modern world:
To me, Hank’s battles mirror those of Elon Musk who has also faced significant challenges in bringing his innovative technologies to market, much like Rearden’s struggle to prove the worth of Rearden Metal:
- Musk’s work with electric vehicles (EVs) through Tesla and private space exploration through SpaceX were initially met with doubt from critics who believed these ventures were bound to fail. Even where they succeded Tesla were snubbed by the Biden adminstration’s green summit in favour for EV laggards like GM and Ford.
- Musk has navigated a complex web of regulatory and political challenges to advance his companies. Tesla has battled against dealership laws in various states that prohibit direct sales of vehicles to consumers. Similarly, SpaceX has contended with government and industry incumbents skeptical of private sector roles in space exploration.
- Much like Rearden, Elon Musk’s personal philosophy and approach to business — emphasizing the importance of innovation, the role of the individual entrepreneur, and a vision for a better future — together with a willingness to speak his mind regardless of whether the views are deemed ‘politically correct’ – have both won him admirers and made him a controversial figure.
- He purchased X to protect a media platform where freedom of speech would be allowed
Fransisco d’Anconia
Francisco d’Anconia is the scion of one of the world’s wealthiest families, a brilliant industrialist who dominates the copper mining industry, and Dagny’s childhood friend.
He also initially appears to be a playboy intent on squandering his family’s vast fortune. However, his character is revealed to be much more complex. He is deeply involved in the struggle against the collectivist state, using the apparent of his apparent decline as a cover for his true intentions. Ultimately he gives up (almost) all his wealth to support the cause.
“Mr. Rearden,” said Francisco, his voice solemnly calm, “if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?” “I . . . don’t know. What . . . could he do? What would you tell him?” “To shrug.”
(Voice of Fransisco d’Anconia) Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Parallels to the modern world
The closest parallel I could think of Francisco in the real world is John D Rockerfeller – who built the dominant Oil Company Of his time – Standard Oil.
Like Fransisco, Rockerfeller gave away much of his wealth to meet his philosophical objectives – in education, science and public health – through the Rockerfeller foundation.
The original Rokerfeller logo even features the globe – fitting nicely with the quote above.
John Galt
John Galt, is a mysterious figure who does not appear until the last third of the book – but in his name the question – “who is John Galt?” permeates the novel. The meaning of the question comes to mean – “why is everything stopping?” / “why are all the capable people giving up on society?”. In the novel, the question is rhetorical and people refuse to speak the answer.
John Galt emerges as a central figure, orchestrating a ‘strike of the mind’ – of the brightest and most capable industrialists, thinkers, artists and scientists – to protest the exploitation of productive individuals by a collectivist state. As these people withdraw from society, society crumbles – ‘the engine of the world stops running’ – economic malaise sets in, and the government runs out of private business to extract wealth from. The strike demonstrates the critical impact of just a few minority to society’s prosperity.
“It is your mind that they want you to surrender—all those who preach the creed of sacrifice, whatever their tags or their motives, whether they demand it for the sake of your soul or of your body, whether they promise you another life in heaven or a full stomach on this earth.
Those who start by saying: ‘It is selfish to pursue your own wishes, you must sacrifice them to the wishes of others’—end up by saying: ‘It is selfish to uphold your convictions, you must sacrifice them to the convictions of others.’
This much is true: the most selfish of all things is the independent mind that recognizes no authority higher than its own and no value higher than its judgment of truth. You are asked to sacrifice your intellectual integrity, your logic, your reason, your standard of truth—in favor of becoming a prostitute whose standard is the greatest good for the greatest number.”
(voice of John Galt) Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Who personifies John Galt in the modern world?
John Galt is the physical embodiment of a powerful idea which can either make the world run, or stop it. While no one individual who could ever possibly represent John Galt, a number are making significant contributions to awakening minds that want to be awoken.
I think the four most prominent people seeking to hold the torch that John Galt set alight are: Beff Jezos, Bill Gurley, Matt Ridley and Marc Andreeson.
Beff Jezos & e/acc
Beff Jezos on X is the creator of the effective accelerationism movement, often abbreviated as “e/acc”, that advocates for propelling rapid technological progress as the ethically optimal course of action for humanity.
e/acc proponents believe that progress in AI is a great social equalizer, which should be pushed forward. e/acc followers see themselves as a counterweight to the cautious view that AI is highly unpredictable, potentially dangerous, and needs to be regulated.
Beff was doxxed by Forbes as a former Google quantum computing engineer named Guillaume Verdon – just as in Atlas Shrugged the Government and mainstream media was desperate to doxx John Galt.
“If you filter what you say, you filter your mind”.
Beff Jezos (re why he started as an anon account)
“What is the sort of mind virus that infects organizations that decelerates everything, adds way too much process, way too much bureaucracy and then, it grows kind of like a cancer, it’s kind of like middle management kind of grows and eventually takes over from the founders…..you gotta have free market competition and if an incumbent is too slow it gets disrupted by a startup…. so…..if they remove that mechanism where bottom up challengers can dethrone and compete with incumbents…. then we don’t have this kind of self-correcting mechanism and we’ll just live with kind of monopolies that are, that are not shipping great product and then, everybody, the consumer suffers and we don’t want that, right?
Beff Jezos
Bill Gurley & 2,851 Miles
Bill Gurley’s talk “2,851 Miles” at the All-In Summit highlighted the issue of regulatory capture in Silicon Valley, critiquing how regulations often benefit established companies at the expense of innovation and competition. Gurley’s experiences and insights underscore a similar message to that delivered by John Galt: the systemic stifling of entrepreneurial spirit and innovation through regulatory overreach.
Let me introduce you to George Stigler. He’s the 1982 Nobel Prize winner in economics and the father of regulatory capture. This is his most famous quote: “As a rule, regulation is acquired by the industry and is designed and operated primarily for its benefit.” I like to say, “Regulation is the friend of the incumbent.” Quick audience interaction moment. That’s the one thing I want you to take away. So on the count of three, scream “regulation is the friend of the incumbent.”
1, 2, 3. [Audience shouts.] Yes! Amen! All right.
Bill Gurley, 2851 miles
The slides are here:
And you can watch the (excellent) 2,851 miles presentation here:
Matt Ridley & The Rational Optimist
Matt Ridley’s “The Rational Optimist” advocates for the power of human innovation and the exchange of ideas to drive progress and prosperity throughout history.
Ridley argues that, despite challenges, the human condition improves over time due to our unique ability to collaborate, innovate, and trade. This optimistic view of humanity’s future contrasts with the often dystopian outlook found in mainstream media discussions about global challenges – be that Demographics, Climate Change, Inequality and so on.
Ridley’s arguments underscore the idea that through continued innovation and open exchange, society can solve its most pressing problems, echoing a belief in the resilience and ingenuity of the human spirit.
The history of the modern world is a history of ideas meeting, mixing, mating and mutating. And the reason that economic growth has accelerated so in the past two centuries is down to the fact that ideas have been mixing more than ever before.
Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist
For more, please refer to my book notes on the Rational Optimist here.
Marc Andreessen & The Techno-Optimist Manifesto
Marc Andreessen’s “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto” is a defense of technology’s role in advancing human civilization.
Contrary to the pervasive narratives of technology as a source of societal ills, Andreessen argues that technology, combined with market forces, has been the driving force behind human progress and prosperity.
Central to this vision is the assertion that technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence and energy innovations, are not threats but opportunities to dramatically enhance human life. Andreessen calls for a renewed optimism in the power of technology to shape a better future.
His manifesto can be found here:
Closing thoughts
I think in many aspects of society around the year 2020 we completely lost track of objective reality – in Ayn Rand’s words it seems to me that many people ‘surrendered their minds’. For example:
- It became ok to discriminate against certain people – specifically white + straight + men – because under the woke DEI ideology, such discrimination was deemed to be “positive” discrimination. I believe this is hogwash, and the most qualified person should get the job / promotion etc.
- We’ve been told to ignore scientific fact and laws have been created to force people to use made up alternative pronouns because it would be ‘unfeeling’ to do so.
- Having a view that immigration should be controlled / merit based became considered a “far right” opinion. In fact, anything which the powers behind mainstream media didn’t like became “far right”.
“Whenever anyone accuses some person of being ‘unfeeling,’ he means that that person is just. He means that that person has no causeless emotions and will not grant him a feeling which he does not deserve. He means that ‘to feel’ is to go against reason, against moral values, against reality.”
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
In the corporate world, it’s become to clear to me that any company that prioritises ESG and DEI over profit and merit will ultimately fail. This is because, in a double-jointed, double-standard culture:
- The best minds will leave
- Their competitive advantage will diminish
- Time and effort and scarce resources will be spent on unprofitable activity
Thankfully, the pendulum seems to swinging back, and the Overton window widened such that more views and voices can be heard. I am grateful for those listed above for having the courage and determination to make this happen.
The book Atlas Shrugged has had a huge impact on me and many others. It’s as much an ideological book as a work of fiction. If you enjoyed Orwell’s 1984 or Animal farm you should read ‘Atlas Shrugged’.
