Going Galt in plain sight

"Going Galt" is a reference to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.  The precise meaning varies with the user, but in general it means something like, "To Hell with this.  I'm working my *ss off and getting robbed blind.  Might as well flip burgers and be happy!"  Some folks add a political spin to it (I don't) but it signifies a deep disgust with the system, enough to want to opt out permanently.  It is much more than a protest.

I just paid $725 (after a 20% cash discount) to find out there was nothing wrong with one of my sons.  That was for two people seeing him for a total of about 10 minutes each and for a few X-rays.  Insurance was not involved. I have paid well more than $2700 for my other son's broken wrist. Both bills appear to me to be inflated by about 100%.  The insurance I buy for my two kids is nearly worthless; I pay for it to satisfy a divorce decree and the ACA.  I worked at the jail a long time ago, and have no desire to be a guest there.  My tax bills are utterly outrageous.  I get it.

Loading up the truck and disappearing into the countryside isn't as easy as it sounds, although there are several possible situations that might demand it on short notice (God forbid!).

There is a better way, slower, but more likely to work.

This blog has several general themes, in no particular order:

1. Job searches can be improved and made much more thorough, with a likely much better outcome.
2. The employment world is changing rapidly, and automation is making jobs disappear.  The rate of job disappearance appears to be accelerating.
3. While everybody has a need for continuous income (and usually employment), it is very wise, and perhaps necessary, to start a business, take it seriously, and devote the effort and time needed to make the business replace your job income.  NB: this is easier when you are young, before you have kids.  Everyone who can should at least try to start and grow a business.
4. If the business is location independent (like most Internet businesses), so much the better.  You can live anywhere you like.
5. My city has rising costs and too much traffic.  Official efforts to solve these problems appear to be making them worse, not better.  This apparently is true for plenty of other cities across the country.  Moving out to the country is looking better and better to me.  Crickets! Critters!

Getting your job situation squared away is probably the first item to complete.  Doing this well requires planning, preparation, research and persistence.  Your goal is to find a job that pays well enough, doesn't kill you in the process, nor drain you emotionally or psychologically.

A good enough job is the runway for the business.  You'll have time to think and do research, try to guess a unique and interesting business that can be expanded almost indefinitely (so it has a large market) and has next to zero competition.  Get started soon, you have a lot of trial and error ahead of you.

At the same time, you can walk around your house and identify junk you don't need and don't use.  Sell what you can, donate the rest.  Simplify! Simplify!

The business will have a few important milestones: the day you start making some money from it reliably, the day it starts to really augment your income (save, don't spend) and the day it replaces your income from your job.  Then, you can quit and work on your business full-time.

Once that is done, you can make preparations to move anywhere you like.

This is the modern, non-dramatic way to go Galt.