By Capt. Barry Sheehy CD. ——Bio and Archives--July 30, 2025

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One of the most important books to emerge from the post war period was Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Written as a novel, the book is a philosophical tour de force about the eternal struggle between wealth creators, risk takers, innovators and the power of those who seek to control and redistribute wealth. This redistribution apparatus takes the form of bureaucracy both corporately and politically.

The book raises the question of what happens when the wealth creators, always a minority, quit, leave or just stop. The book is de rigueur reading for anyone who considers themselves a conservative or libertarian. The plot revolves around a strike by wealth generators and what follows. It is not as far-fetched a scenario as it may seem. In many countries today government consumes so much of the GDP that they need to tax relentlessly and overregulate the productive sectors of society. This certainly explains why so many modern economies are mired in slow growth and declining productivity. This happens when the wealth creators cannot produce sufficiently to maintain an overburdened welfare state.

The symbolism of Atlas Shrugging and refusing to carry the burden any longer is one way of viewing the global realignment we are witnessing as America looks to protect its interests and force wealthy allies to pay for their own defense. The narrowing of access to America’s markets and changes in defense spending by NATO members reflect an unraveling of the post war Pax Americana which has endured for three quarters of a century. This represents a tectonic shift in global finance, trade and defense. And it has all happened so quickly no one is sure how the vacuum can be filled? Everyone is scrambling to cope.

The magnitude of the coming shift is reflected in Germany’s decision to spend up to 5% of GDP on defense. Germany and many NATO members have freeloaded on massive US defense expenditures throughout the post war period, and yes, this includes Canada. Eighty years after the end of the Second World War the United States still maintains 40 military bases and facilities in Europe, largely paid for by American taxpayers. This enormous........

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