Fiction v. Reality. George Orwell and Ayn Rand were prophets...

As a reader of both fiction and history, it has always fascinated me how writers of fiction could be so prescient. Who would have conceived that the Star Trek communicator would become today's flip-open cell phone? Who would have dreamed that one day computers would speak? All these things and more were dreamt of by science fiction writers decades before they became reality.

However, not all prophetic works of fiction are harbingers of good news or mankind's advancement. Two works of fiction immediately come to mind in this regard: George Orwell's classic novel, 1984 and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

Orwell's Big Brother has become today's Nanny State, with its intrusion into every aspect of the lives of its subjects. in defiance of Benjamin Franklin's warning that those who value safety over freedom would have neither, the Nanny State and its supporters have placed their idea of safety above all else. Little by little we surrender our freedom in the hope that we will live in a risk-free fantasy land where Big Brother will take care of us from cradle to grave. Only, safety in the new Nanny States of America means donning a straight jacket and ankle chains.

Ayn Rand's horrific tale of a crumbling infrastructure, a corrupt, incompetent government and a society of looters is taking shape before our very eyes. For proof, one need look no further than the city of Detroit. There is no manufacturing, no jobs and no evil rich people to blame. They have all gone elsewhere. The unemployment rate is nearly 50%. Whole city blocks are in decay. Detroit is the city where looters can proudly declare victory in the name of genuine leftist altruism. Equality has been achieved - everyone is equally destitute.

The rest of the country is catching up fast. Successful entrepreneurs are vilified, while so-called protesters who commit acts of indecency and violence are deified in the media. Productivity is punished while laziness and incompetence are rewarded. Politically correct catch-phrases such as "it's for the children" and "pay their fair share" and "it helps people" are used as trump cards to dismiss reason, silence opposition and legitimize theft. Anyone earning more than their accuser is deemed guilty of crimes against society.

Everywhere, schools graduate the illiterate in the name of self esteem. Psychologists and educators insist that circumstances or some ominous sounding pseudo-medical acronym are always to blame for failure - never one's personal choices. This philosophy insures that the looter class continues to grow.

Ours is now a government of, by and for looters and loafers.

What is to be done?

Do we continue to believe in the false altruism of those who purchase their conscience at the expense of others? Do we continue to believe the utopian promises of those in power while they loot the nation into poverty? Do we want an America that resembles the city of Detroit and the America of Atlas Shrugged, or do we revoke our sanction of this insanity?
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