John Galt is the celebrated libertarian hero of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and, while responsible for much in the epic novel, is best known as the founder of "Galt's Gulch" — a town secluded in a Colorado mountain valley that is home to his fellow creatives, inventors, and champions of private enterprise.
What is considered the Vatican City of free marketers and entrepreneurs may be coming to life.
Initially a short story, "Belle Island" quickly became a novel by Michigan businessman Rod Lockwood. The Michigan-based island would be a wholly owned project of private investors, who would put in roughly $1 billion as an initial investment to create their "dream city."
"I began this as a lark — just something I had been thinking about — and since my book came out, people are talking about investing to make it happen," Lockwood told Newsmax.
Belle Island would have 46,000 permanent jobs (20,000 of them high-paying), 1,000 hotel rooms and 140 dining establishments — ranging from small coffee shops to five-star restaurants.
"And transportation would be provided by Michigan monorail," said veteran Michigan pollster Steve Mitchell, adding that the Belle Island envisioned in the novel would adopt the same "no cars allowed" rule as Michigan's storied Mackinac Island. Beaches and public areas would be preserved, he said.
The concept is appealing to Michiganders. Mitchell's MRS polling firm recently conducted a survey on the feasibility and popularity of bringing Belle Island to life.
Support for the concept stands at a slim 42% to 37% approve-disapprove rating statewide, Mitchell found. But in southeast Michigan, where the proposed island city would be located, his survey found 71% of residents support the concept.
Mitchell, Lockwood, and other Belle Island boosters estimate it would be home to about 30,000 households, with a total population of 50,000.
"And it will cost any prospective resident $350,000 up front for the right to live on Belle Island," Mitchell said. He also said the island is unashamedly meant for entrepreneurs and the self-employed — much like Galt's Gulch.
Residents would be exempt from state and federal taxes but would pay property taxes along with a 6% sales tax. It would require acts of Congress and the Michigan Legislature to create a "special economic zone" to permit this. It also would require the city of Detroit and surrounding Wayne County to sell the public property to an investor group.
"Elitist," "far-fetched," "a work of the conceited" are among the epithets critics are likely to use to describe the proposed "capitalist paradise." But Rod Lockwood is now working full time as chairman of the Belle Island Group, and investors are showing interest. Time will tell whether the fantasy of "Galt's Gulch" becomes the reality of "Belle Island."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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