01503 Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 In Atlas Shrugged, a legislation that passed destroyed the country in the final, fell swoop. This was Directive 10-289. Will we ever get that far? Will we fall first, or turn around? If we get there, when? http://members.cox.net/polincorr1/rand3.htm DIRECTIVE 10-289 "In the name of the general welfare to protect the people's security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that- Point One: All workers, wage earners, and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such board to be appointed by the Bureau Of Economic Planning and National Resources. All person reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation. Point Two: All industrial, commercial, manufacturing, and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit, nor leave, nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under penalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any or all their property. Point Three: All patents and copyrights, pertaining to any devices, inventions, formulas, processes, and works of any nature whatsoever, shall be turned over to the nation as a patriotic emergency gift by means of Gift Certificates to be signed voluntarily by the owners of all such patents and copyrights. The Unification Board shall then license the use of such patents and copyrights to all applicants, equally and without discrimination, for the purpose of elimination monopolistic practices, discarding obsolete products and making the best available to the whole nation. No trademarks, brand names, or copyrighted titles shall be used. Every formerly patented product shall be known by a new name and sold by all manufacturers under the same name, such name to be selected by the Unification Board. All private trademarks and brand names are hereby abolished. Point Four: No new devices, inventions, products, or goods of any nature whatsoever, not now on the market, shall be produced, invented, manufactured or sold after the date of this directive, The Office of patents and Copyrights is hereby suspended. (Added later in chapter: All "research departments, experimental laboratories, scientific foundations" will be closed except for government-operated facilities.) Point Five: Every establishment, concern, corporation or person engaged in production of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth produce the same amount of goods per year as is, they or he produced during the Basic Year, no more or no less. The year is to known as the Basic or Yardstick Year is to be the year ending on the date of this directive. Over or under production shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification board. Point Six: Every person of any age, sex, class or income, shall henceforth spend the same amount of money on the purchase of goods per year as he or she spent during the Basic Year, no more and no less. Over or under purchasing shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board. Point Seven: All wages, prices, salaries, dividends, profits, interest rates and forms of income of any nature whatsoever, shall be frozen at their present figures, as of the date of this directive. (But taxes will be allowed to increase as needed for the public good) Point Eight: All cases arising from and rules not specifically provided for in this directive, shall be settled and determined by the Unification Board, whose decisions shall be final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils_Advocate Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Well, Bush just sent billions to AIG, then temporarily suspended short-selling. We've got groups going for a $10 minimum wage, NAFTA's being fired on from every corner, the Stock Market's been too crazy in the last week for even me to follow, Al Gore and his Green Army are moving across the globe with threatening speed, and Lenin-incarnate has an incredibly good shot at the presidency. Frankly, I don't see another 30 or so years before we have something at least resembling this. This one, though, would include more environmental safeguards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenure Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Directive 10-289 translates to slavery - specifically within a Communist framework. It says your slave labour shall either be whatever you are already doing, or what the government decides you shall do. You are then asking: are we close to literal slavery? Far from it. In terms of the American sense of life, the strength of our explicit opposition to Statism and the weakness (although it is strengthening, in terms of funding) of our opposition, there is just no way 10-289 could be passed today. This is something I try to explain to other Objectivists when discussing 'Atlas Shrugged'. It's not a book about today. Yes, the government actions are (at times, word for word) things that have occurred in reality. However, the will of the people is far stronger in real life than in Atlas Shrugged. By this, I do not mean that Ayn Rand did not accurately portray the real world. What I mean, is that she was showing 'the people' when the philosophical trends of her time met their climax. Her actions and the subsequent beginnings of the Second Renaissance (most apparent in the tortured deregulation of the late 70s and throughout the 80s) have meant that an A.S. type world has been pushed further back. Our fight is obviously far from over, but the strong trend that would have led to Directive 10-289 has deflated - of course, environmentalism and religion are both willing to go pick up the torch again and guide us to that noble end. What I'm saying is, in answer to your questions, that no, we will not have to see the world fall apart before it will change. The future is not that grim. But, as the 'cultural vacuum' is being to be filled again, with the Environmentalists and Religionists (coupled with some good old fashioned bad philosophy), we are going to see a lot of bad legislation that will bring us closer to that point. Of course, I believe that as we put up a stronger fight, eventually our enemies will fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinDW78 Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425861,00.html The news today - the Dem's want salary limits on executives. One step closer to 10-289... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inertiatic Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 [E]ventually our enemies will fail. I needed to hear that. Even if we don't put up much of a fight, they'll still fail. Their "success" will be their failure. If the world of Anthem, their ideal world, is a success, what in the world could a failure be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena glaukopis Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 World Leaders May Close World Market? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenure Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 I would like to amend my earlier post, and state that it was not made with the knowledge of what has now come to pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 If not 10-289, then certainly fascism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Sophia~ Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 World Leaders May Close World Market? Shocking! Central planning does not work on a scale of one country and now they think it is possible on a global level? What a mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 I hope this makes as much sense to other people besides me... http://uncommonsensecanada.blogspot.com/20...-bail-outs.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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