hello. my name is mike ambs.

Glenn Beck announces his intention to build a Libertarian utopia, bringing the “every man for himself” vision of Ayn Rand to life

thingsilikeon:

via Mark Maynard

After teasing his audience for days with cryptic Disney Land imagery and the promise of incredible news, Glenn Beck, the vile charlatan who’s made a career of fleecing the fearful and ignorant, announced that he intends to build a $2 billion Libertarian utopia in rural Texas loosely modeled on Galt’s Gulch, the fictional community imagined by the unashamedly-sociopathic Ayn Rand in her novel Atlas Shrugged. If you scroll down, you’ll find video of Beck announcing the project, but, first, here’s a brief overview on the project from Right Wing Watch.

…Beck revealed that his intention to “go Galt” is quite literal, unveiling grandiose plans to create an entirely self-sustaining community called Independence Park that will provide its own food and energy, produce television and film content, host research and development, serve as a marketplace for products and ideas, while also housing a theme park and serving as a residential community. At the center — in the middle of the lake that is itself larger than all of Disney Land – Beck (with the help of David Barton) will create a massive “national archive”/learning center where people can send their children to be “deprogrammed” and elected officials can come to learn “the truth”…

David “Hate is a Virtue” Barton, by the way, is the evangelical minister who founded the organization WallBuilders, a Texas-based group that promotes the view that it’s a “myth” that the United States Constitution insists upon the separation of church and state. Barton is probably best known as the bestselling author of the book The Jefferson Lies, which had to be pulled from store shelves by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson when it became clear that much of it was untrue. (Fortunately, the book, which was voted “the least credible history book in print” by the users of the History News Network website, will soon have a second life, as Glenn Beck has announced that he intends to republish it in spite of the fact that it’s not historically accurate.)

Now, here’s Beck presenting the vision… Prepare to be blown away!

And here’s my idea: I want to raise enough money through Kickstarter to buy a home in Independence Park with the intention of establishing a small island of sanity. And I want to conduct a national search for a undocumented super-gay scientist who can live there, proudly representing our interests… Wouldn’t that be the most incredible reality series ever?

But, as well all know, this isn’t likely to happen. Sure, it’s been reported that Beck has bought some land in Texas, and, I’m sure, if he could make a buck at it, he’d be all for it, but I can’t imagine that he’d really want to put himself in a situation where he’d have to be in character 24-7, performing his ‘Obama wants to eat the elderly‘ schtick for every nut who’s inherited enough to buy a house in what I heard someone refer to as a “survivalist Epcot.” But I’m keeping my fingers crossed, in hopes that, one day, I can read transcripts of the city council meetings. If you thought the city that Tom Monaghan built in the swamps of Florida was a disaster, you haven’t seen anythign yet. This, my friends, if it actually comes to pass, is going to make Jonestown look like Mayberry R.F.D.. Can you just imagine the kinds of people that would be attracted to move to a town ruled over by Glenn Beck? Now imagine them all in one city, operating outside any kind of accepted societal construct. Do you know any Glenn Beck fans? If so, can you imagine them growing their own food, operating their own university, performing operations in a hospital? Would there be traffic lights? I can’t see John Galt, the protagonist in Atlas Shrugged, stopping for a red light? How about zoning laws? Surely there wouldn’t be any of those. Who, after all, wants “big government” telling them where they can and can’t build their chicken processing plants, and dispose of their chemical waste? And, as I’m sure there wouldn’t be taxes, how would they maintain a fire department? Would it be a for-profit entity that only fought the fires of their wealthy subscribers? And, when it snowed, would volunteers plow the streets? I’ve got so many questions… (And, yes, I realize that state and federal law would come into play at some point, as this would be happening in Texas, and not Ghana, but I like the idea of these folks left completely to their own devices, putting all of their theories into practice. I suspect they’d succumb to cannibalism alarmingly fast… like within days.)

And, now that I’ve had my say, here’s Beck’s perspective, from GlennBeck.com.

While Independence is very much a dream at this point, the proposed city-theme park hybrid would bring several of Glenn’s seemingly disconnected projects into one place. Media, live events, small business stores, educational projects, charity, entertainment, news, information, and technology R&D – all of these things would have a home in Independence. With the rest of the country and the world going away from the values of freedom, responsibility and truth, Independence would be a place built on the very foundation of those principles. A retreat from the world where entrepreneurs, artists, and creators could come to put their ideas to work. A place for families to bring their children to be inspired…

Glenn believes that he can bring the heart and the spirit of Walt’s early Disneyland ideas into reality. Independence, USA wouldn’t be about rides and merchandise, but would be about community and freedom…

aside: If you want to see a community really “(move) away from the values of freedom,” settle down in Independence and try to open a mosque.

And, lastly, here’s a clip from Glen Beck’s media arm The Blaze:

While the extremely ambitious project, heavily inspired by Walt Disney, is still a dream that this point, that doesn’t mean that Beck’s American Dream Labs aren’t starting to build the pieces.

The streets of America were not paved in gold, they were paved in “people’s dreams and hard work,” Beck said before walking the audience through a sketch of the proposed development. There won’t be a “Gap” or an “Ann Taylor,” Beck noted, although the park would contain a marketplace. It will be a place where people cultivate their visions and ideas. In essence, Independence Park would be a business incubator on a grand-scale revolving around “education, independence, entrepreneurship and apprenticeship.”

And “apprenticeship,” if you’re curious, translates to child labor. (Beck notes in the video above that Benjamin Franklin, for instance, was an apprentice at eight years of age.)

OK, that’s going to have to be in for now… It’s time to close my eyes and dream of Independence.