John Galt (Atlas Shrugged)
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John Galt is one of the main characters in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. An engineer by trade, Galt is the male hero of the story; his actions include withdrawing his talents, 'stopping the motor of the world', and leading the 'strikers' against the 'looters'.
The question "Who is John Galt?" is asked repeatedly throughout the story. Despite rumors and legends, the identity of the actual Galt is learned only after a prolonged search by Dagny Taggart, the female heroic character, with whom Galt has a romantic relationship. Galt is the same character as the Mystery Worker.
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[edit] Biography
The son of an Ohio garage mechanic, Galt left home at age 12 and began college at Patrick Henry University at age 16. There he befriended Francisco d'Anconia and Ragnar Danneskjöld, all three of whom double-majored in physics and philosophy. They were the cherished students of the brilliant scientist Robert Stadler and the brilliant philosopher Hugh Akston.
After graduating, Galt became an engineer at the Twentieth Century Motor Works where he designed a revolutionary new motor powered by ambient static electricity with the potential to change the world. Like Ellis Wyatt, he created what many had for years said was impossible. When the company owners decided to run the factory by the collectivist maxim, 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his need', Galt organized a successful labor strike (but this time getting employers, inventors, businessmen and industrialists to go on strike against statist laws that violate their "rights"), proclaiming his promise to stop the motor of the world. He began traversing the globe, meeting the world's most successful businessmen, systematically convincing them to follow in his footsteps; one by one, they began abandoning their business empires (which, Galt convinced them, were doomed to failure anyhow, given the increased nationalization of industry by the government).
Secretly, these captains of industry, led by Galt and banker Midas Mulligan, had created their own society — a secret enclave of rational individualists living in 'Galt's Gulch', a town secluded high in a wilderness of mountains in Colorado. Dagny accidentally finds the town — and a shocked John Galt — by crash-landing a light aircraft while pursuing Quentin Daniels.
[edit] Who is John Galt?
Since everyone across the country is repeating the phrase, "Who is John Galt?", it is natural that many people have attempted to answer that question. The phrase becomes an expression of helplessness and despair at the current state of the world. Dagny Taggart hears a number of John Galt Legends before finding the real John Galt and eventually joining his cause, and learning that all of the stories have an element of truth to them.
[edit] John Galt in Pop Culture
John Galt was mentioned in Warcraft for PC. The cheatcode "Whoisjohngalt" was used to enable advanced engineering options.
The phrase “Who is John Galt?” was imprinted on the back of Tripp Eisen’s guitar picks during Static-X’s 2003 tour supporting their album, Shadow Zone.
A book titled Dreams Come Due: Government and Economics As If Freedom Mattered, which argues for free market capitalism was published by the pseudonym John Galt.
