I am John Galt
I am John Galt. A John Galt is someone who has a grand vision - which sometimes borders on and is mistaken for delusion - for the world but is disappointed with the hypocrisy and tyranny of the status quo and its perpetual addiction to comfort zones.
But I am of a more optimistic John Galt type. The irony is, while I have the book by Ayn Rand, I have yet to complete reading it, but I surely will. All the information I have about John Galt is gleaned from what portions of the book I have read so far and what I had searched for on the internet.
So that might make me a John Galt wannabe, a hypocrite in the John Galt cult. I don’t understand completely what Objectivism is all about, so I won’t say that I am an Objectivist.
I am just attracted to the romantic and poetic (and perhaps the ‘Galtic’) nature of this fictional being. But on some levels, I find some resonance with him.
Here is why perhaps I deserve to be a character or the inspiration for a character in a monumental, zeitgeist-defining work of fiction (perhaps my very own) -
1. I seek to destroy money and replace it with a better system of exchanging value that makes poverty and suffering rationally impossible.
2. I have seen through the farce, the staged propaganda, the drama, the patterns behind the patterns of virtually all human affairs (politics, hierarchies of power, societal units, social rituals, survival mechanisms, etc) and am sick of the same-old, same-old, seeking and thirsting for fresher combinations of old patterns.
3. I am Quixotic - you have seen my ambitions - all that I had set out to do and am now doing (like building my internet empire) - but here is a snapshot of my current reality - (this is going to be lengthy)
I am semi-employed, working 3 days a week and earning S$500 per month; living with my Mom, my younger brothers, my youngest sister and my semi-paralysed grandma (taken care of by our maid); my Mom works as a part-time maid, my second brother works in a petrol station, my third brother is struggling in a tertiary school, my youngest sister is reaching 12 years old. My Dad was gunned down in the line of duty about 4 years ago and I am the eldest child in the family. My Mom is a cynical but strong woman, my brothers are emotionally detached from me and my sister, although I cherish her, is still too young to understand the complexities I am facing. My grandma has been semi-paralysed since 1997 and has lost her ability to speak since this year.
I am single but passively looking (because my internet business empire is my primary concern right now) and have had no serious (non-Platonic friendship) relationship (with the opposite gender, of course) ever since I was born (I’d be an outcast like Jesus Christ was in the midst of an angry Jewish mob if I had been living in an over-liberal culture like that in the U.S. of A). I have had my share of one-sided infatuations, of course, and most (if not all) the persons I had been infatuated with before are either married by now or going to be married to older, gainfully employed men. All the best for them. But I do have hopes that I meet a woman more successful than me who can not only sponsor but also support me in my great life mission to eradicate money and free humankind from all forms of poverty (the same way Lady Khadijah supported the young Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family; she is only 3 years his senior). And when I get to that part of my life, I shall demand no more than a modest affair, a simple wedding, perhaps graced with some orphans who I’ll invite as a charitable gesture to ‘bless’ (in a sense) my marriage. The budget will be less than $10,000 (assuming I have not completed my life mission of eradicating money yet) including dowry and other unnecessary cultural fabrications of Malay society (which, if possible, I want to do away with - the Malays have a twisted proverb in which we say, “Let our children die, but not our tradition / culture” - I’d rather burn tradition / culture to the ground and save my children, thank you very much).
My office is also my bedroom - but I sleep on no bed. Every single night, my ritual is to take my pillows, blanket and my huge mattress which is 1.5 times my size from my brothers’ bedroom and carry them to my balcony which is also my office and bedroom. I guess I should be grateful because I still have a roof over my head, a comfortable mattress, pillows and a blanket. I also have a powerful fan that keeps me cool at night. No fancy air-con for me. Sometimes if I am too tired to carry my mattress from my brothers’ bedroom to my balcony, I’d just sleep on a red floral-pattern straw mat. I sleep in the balcony not because I am exiled here but because my grandma resides in what used to be my personal bedroom. I figure if I’d continue to stay in the same house, I’d still sleep in the balcony because my sister is growing up and pretty soon she’ll have to sleep in her own room too (assuming my grandma moves to one of my relatives’ homes but I doubt so - none of my Mom’s siblings are willing to do what she is now doing - all they do is come over from time to time and sponsor the hospital trips, etc). Although I try to keep my balcony clean and tidy and dust-free, I do wake up in the morning with sinus disturbances due to dust sensitivity (but this is thankfully decreasing).
My control panel and dashboard to the world is my trusty Dell laptop. I have a lousy wireless internet connection at home - I am doing my best to influence the world and shape the course of the future via the internet and I am connected to it through a very thin and fragile network connection. I have to share this weak connection with my brothers and sister and sometimes, when it gets too slow for my patience, I walk all the way to my Mom’s bedroom and reset the modem, walk to my brothers’ room and reset the router (go figure the configuration), sometimes to their (expressed) irritation at the temporary suspension of connection.
Another detail - my balcony cum bedroom cum office is also my personal prayer room, where I do my prayers 3 times a day (not 5 times because I am Shi’ah). My balcony also houses my personal library. I don’t know how many Malay guys (or ‘Mat’s as we like to call ourselves - but not me) you know, dear reader, but I think I’m the guy who has the most books and reads the most frequently amongst us - I don’t know, perhaps this stereotype is changing (hopefully. If it is, thank God).
I don’t drive, and I don’t intend to. By God, when my financial situation gets better, I shall hire a personal chauffeur. This is maybe an ego thing to compensate for the fact that in 2005, when I was assigned to be an army driver (actually, a Transport Supervisor, one level above a mere driver) while I was still ’serving the Nation’, I failed the military-imposed practical driving tests a record 8 times. Eight times. Obviously, this experience has had an impact on my self-esteem back then, but it was a blessing in disguise as I was re-assigned to be a combat medic specialist trained for chemical warfare instead (for which I am thankful in some ways). That’s life, you know. Maybe when I am in (one of) my car(s), all dressed up like an important delegate with my well-dressed chauffeur driving me around, I shall drop by and say Hi to my former driving instructors and my former fellow driving course mates and offer them a ride. Success is the sweetest form of revenge. Didn’t someone say that the Geek will inherit the Earth?
In about 2 years’ time, the Integrated Resorts (i.e. vice and gambling facilities) will be opened in Singapore, and I foresee a fresh new wave of the cynical money-worshipping culture. The socio-economic zeitgeist will increase in complexity; there might be more or less unemployment (or perhaps more employment but also more people finding themselves in the ‘wrong vocation’), more dysfunctional families (maybe the Malays will still be the hardest hit - but I think this Malay-centric dysfunctional gauging is a self-created disease that must be wiped out at all costs - there are so many things about my Malay community that I am so angry about and am burning for change), an increased influx of foreigners, hence, increasing our population saturation / density, thus, leading to even more social tensions. I am just painting the realistic scenarios here. The recent moves by our government in supporting the green energy movement will - as is all things - be both a boon and a bane - a boon because it helps a little for the Earth and a bane because the alternative sources of energy that we are going to have might also mean higher energy utility bills (and in Singapore, I fail to remember anything that is ever reduced - taxes, fees, bills, etc).
And into this environment, into this zeitgeist (must be my new favourite word), into this circumstance, situation, soil of potential, shall I declare to the world my grand vision for a radical revolution - no, transcendence - in the way we humans live.