Ayn Rand collected every nickel of SS. Didn't turn down or give back a dime. Whenever there is a natural disaster in places like Louisiana, Republicans are the first to beg for Federal help. Red States have always been the biggest takers, and you will NEVER see a Republican senior give back their SS or Medicare benefits. Never, ever, ever, never.
How 'bout them Walmart Walton's? Their employees draw huge benefits from government because they can't survive on poverty wages. This is our biggest employer, whose profit margins are sustained by ol' uncle sucker. And let's not even mention how unpatriotic Walmart is, getting over 20% of their products made in communist China (see sweatshop labor costs). Post-Reagan capitalism is the story of how our noble John Galts got in bed with freedom-hating nations for the cheap labor. And these are the biggest funders of the Republican Party. What a racket.
And let's not even talk about the economy - which is run by state protected monopolies, the ones which have erected a lobbying empire around our political organs. John Galt not only came out of hiding; he now owns government. In the Russia of Ayn Rand's youth, Stalin steals the family pharmacy. Now, big pharma owns government. The roles have reversed, but talk radio still convinces a group of uneducated idiots that it's still the 30s.
Hey Republicans: do you understand the patent system? This is where the nanny state intervenes in the economy to protect the investments of the wealthy. Or... what about ...how the Pentagon budget pays for the protection Exxon's oil fields in Iraq? Republicans never complain about this raping of the taxpayer. Or what about the satellite system, created by big government and handed to the private sector. Business has always been deeply parasitic on the state, not only in terms of patent enforcement and military protection of overseas supply chains or the advanced industrial infrastructure provided by Government, but also the legal system and the whole corrupt mess of subsidies and bailouts. The State is a dynamic advocate for the narrow accumulation of capital. Everybody knows this, save the folks who listen to noise machine (Limbaugh/Fox/etc.,). We have become an aristocracy where birth counts more than merit.
Of course, the corporate owners of government don't admit they own government. They claim to be victims. And they get these poor loser schlubs - people making less than 100K - to vote for the party of billionaires. They do this by dividing Americans against each other through a toxic culture war. They convince the stupid that their country has been stolen, but they never admit that they are the ones who stole it. God help us.
