Galt’s Gulch

For those of you who haven’t read Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s epic masterpiece, “Galt’s Gulch” refers to a mythical paradise where the greatness of human achievement knows no boundaries. It is a place like the fabled “Atlantis.” A place that once was and might still be. A place where men are free to trade and produce without the tyranny of irrational government controls.

Ayn Rand portrayed just such a world in Galt’s Gulch. And ever since the publication of Atlas Shrugged, men have been yearning for just such an ideal place–a place where men can live free for their own sake, without the pervasive corruption of big governments, the incessant meddling of incompetent bureaucrats, and the confiscatory taxation of the welfare state.

A few radical libertarians I recently met are working on creating just such a Randian universe in cyberspace. Through modern information technologies and the Internet, these ardent Ayn Rand admirers are currently constructing a borderless cyber world in complete defiance of the traditional nation-state.

The idea is to create true freedom in the electronic ether. This fascinating project will somehow be accomplished by employing a vast international network of computer portals throughout the world. The network will be heavily encrypted using only the most advanced methods available, so that traditional nation states (read, governments) will no longer have access to the financial dealings of these newly liberated net citizens.

“If a government shuts one of our portals down,” claims my fellow Randite, “we will just re-route to another site. Another one will always be open.”

One of the underlying premises is that backward, bureaucratic, red-tape infested governments will not have the ability to monitor–let alone tax–electronic transactions all over the globe. Money transfers will appear as untraceable electronic computer blips–and traditional big governments will simply be powerless to stop it.

Is this merely a manifestation of the underground economy in cyberspace? Not necessarily. The traditional underground economy conjures up sleazy images of prostitutes, pimps and drug pushers.

The people I have met appear sophisticated, well-educated, and technologically-savvy, dressed in white collar shirts and ties. They speak of Ayn Rand’s philosophical model in glowing intellectual and practical terms. They make constant references to Hong Kong–widely regarded as the freest market in the world. They tout the book
“The Sovereign Individual” and appear wild-eyed at the mere mention of this new global high-tech freedom frontier.

Will the world increasingly go to the Randites? Maybe not, but the cyber world clearly belongs to their fellow travelers–the radical Libertarians and neo-anarchists.

Strictly a personal view. Charles Reyes Jr. is a regular columnist of Saipan Tribune. Mr. Reyes may be reached at charlesraves@hotmail.com