The Tortoise Awards
The sculpture above is from Rockefeller Plaza, and commemorates the epic visual of mighty Atlas bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.
There are apocryphal accounts of philosophical questions raised at the time, about where Atlas stood in the scheme of things. “On the back of a giant tortoise,” was one of the legendary answers.
Well, what is the tortoise standing on? “Another tortoise.”
And that one? “It’s turtles, all the way down…”
The logic eventually fails, and drops to the level of circular reasoning. Much of what we hear and see with regard to economic discourse and public debate is based on ideas that under closer scrutiny fail to pass the Tortoise test. “On what do you base that assertion?”
Slow and Steady Wins the Debate
We here at Team Galt know full well we aren’t going to win hearts and minds overnight. We need to do a better job of compassionately expressing our understanding of several fundamental concepts:
- How wealth is really created
- The constitutional role of government
- The inherent capacity of the State to grow if unchecked
- The importance of free trade and the rule of law
There are many myths we must debunk, and it must be accomplished with the grace and precision of a jeweler. The first step is recognizing those fallacies and assumptions as uttered by our politicians and repeated by a media that doesn’t think critically enough to know better.
And here’s how you can help.
As you encounter articles, statements or links that display an egregiously incorrect, biased or slanted assumption about economics, freedom or liberty… send them to us. Help us expose those fallacies for the absurdities they are – just another stack of tortoises that answer a question but explain nothing.
Each week, we’ll recognize the Tortoise of the Week. Kudos to you if you sniff it out, and a wag-of-the-finger for the shell-head who utters it.
Send your submissions to tortoise@callingjohngalt.com – We welcome your input, this globe is getting awful heavy…
