John Galt sat in his office and checked his watch. It was about five minutes before he would speak. It was almost time. He clenched and unclenched his fists while outlining what he would say one more time in his head. The speech practically wrote itself. He had no manifesto, he had no prepared remarks, and he had not even put much thought into what he would say until just now.

No. That wasn't true at all. He had spent his entire life putting thought into what he would say. True, the words themselves were not consciously formed. The speech was not written. There was no drafting process. But John Galt was a man of principle, and those principles had been developed, tested, and refined throughout his entire life. All he would do at 2:45 was give voice to the principles that he already knew. The preparation was complete before he even knew he would be speaking tonight.

It was 2:45. It was time. Mr. Galt resolutely flipped the switch on his desk and every radio in the country fell silent. He turned to his microphone with no particular words in mind, opened his mouth, and began to speak. Across the country a thousand-thousand radios spoke out as one with his voice.

Over the last few years the world has declined. Everywhere the pillars of our society have decayed or collapsed. Once we were a hardworking people of honor, dignity, and respect. The nation has declined, as a whole, into a vicious pack of looters and thieves. The common pickpocket is upheld as an exemplar of crafty behavior. The man who defends his property is treated with scorn for having the gall to stand up and slap down the hand that would rob him. Anonymous individuals from the shadows slay the men that honest folk hire to protect their property with nary a reprisal, and no one is safe for the utter disregard for the sanctity of life, liberty, and property of these turncoats. Everywhere people ask "How did it get this bad? How could this happen?" And everywhere people respond "Who is John Galt?"

Ladies and gentlemen, this is John Galt speaking. And I have the answers you seek.

Things are this bad because we have forgotten our First Principles. We have forgotten the glue that holds society together. We have forgotten the value of other's labor. We have forgotten the value of our own labor. Fear not: I am here to remind you, and the lesson is not long.

Everything you need to know is embodied in my oath, which I repeat for all to hear: I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.

I've repeated this oath often, and for all to hear. Often, people just look at me with a puzzled expression, not comprehending what it means. Very well: I shall explain the oath, piece by piece, and how each piece adds strength to all the others.

"By my life, and my love of it."

There seems to be a new fad sweeping the nation. "Life's a game" people say, as they take some senseless risk. Or they shrug "no one gets out of life alive," as they plunge forward with some doomed adventure. Others sit in dark, damp speakeasies in the seedier districts of our cities and plot how to murder well respected members of society with nary a second spent plotting escape routes.

These prophets of death, these haters of life, these beasts in men's clothing have lost sight of the fact that life is ours to embrace, love, and cherish. We have been given a short time in this world to make the most of, and after that only the memories that we have left with others shall remain. Do you want to be remembered as a scumbag who wrecked others' lives for no purpose, or as someone who changed the world for the better? The man who loves his life knows that it is the latter which is the stuff of legends.

There is another problem, too. Many mindless automatons walk the world, doing everything "for their life" but showing no love for it. These creatures grovel at the feet of better men, begging for mercy after every action, questioning whether something will get them shot by some prophet of death. They aimlessly send all the fruits of their labor to other people, unsure why other than to curry favor with their betters and hoping that it will somehow bring happiness for its own sake. These machines believe they do things for their own lives, but they are mistaken: they do everything for the sake of another to preserve their existence—an existence that cannot properly be called "their life."

The man who loves his life knows why he does everything he does. Everything he does is a product of a rational plan to make his life better. He does not cower in fear of what will come of it if someone disagrees. He acts and embraces the consequences of his actions. He moves the world knowing full well that it cannot stop him.

"I will never live for the sake of another man."

These words mean what they say, and say what they mean. A man who loves his life knows not to allow another to live his life for him or through him. This includes all facets of life and all of the fruits of life's labors.

Money is earned by individuals spending their time to produce wealth in society. Someone who attempts to appropriate your money is attempting to take your time from you. Time is life. By allowing someone to steal from you, you've allowed them to take a portion of your life away without any claim of right. They have forced you to live your life for their sake.

A man who loves his life will not permit this to happen. He has sworn himself against living for the sake of another out of respect for himself. To allow another to take his things without repercussions would be to submit to their authority and allow another to control his life. He would, to the extent that his time was taken, have become a slave to another for that time period. Those that love their lives would not permit this.

"Or ask another man to live for mine."

Respect for the lives of another is not a one way street. For the same reason that the self-respecting man who loves his life would not live for the sake of another, he will not ask another to do the same for him. He lives his life as he pleases, and allows others to live their lives as they please. People live together on the basis of mutual respect for one another's lives and property, not allowing their own to be taken without cause, and not expecting to take another's property without cause. By living together by a shared code embracing the importance of each other's lives and property, every member of our society can achieve their own level of greatness.

I am John Galt: heed my words, if you dare.

And the radios went silent. There was a pause for ten seconds before John flipped the switch in his office back. And all at once, things went back to how they were. The radios bleated their music, and the people turned to each other and shrugged. Galt could only hope that a few of the people would take his words to heart and live by his message. Galt hoped that the looters had not yet succeeded in rendering "property" a dead letter. Perhaps some of the people that heard his message would even mull it over, discuss it with friends, and come to the same conclusions that John had. Perhaps.

Manius stepped up to the radio where JohnGalt was making his speech and nodded to the man. He had a few additional comments he wanted to add. After all, leaders voicing their inputs is what makes this world go round.

Stepping up to the man, Manius pulled a cowboy killer from his pocket and struck a match. As he sat down in front of the microphone he began to speak. More to JohnGalt then our world as a whole.

You've done well here my friend, the majority of which I agree with. I personally don't like my person being open to random robbings or muggings and would take offense to any that attempted it. However, I do believe that we as individuals can't dictate the responses of others. After all, its not like you or I run this thing of ours.

We both follow other's. After all, I don't want the job of leading a city, let alone the known world as our leaders do. Unfortunately my friend from another city, that is where I take offense to your speech.

You quoted the following...

the self-respecting man who loves his life would not live for the sake of another

Every day you and I wake up, we live for another. Each of us took the oath that binded us to our leaders. I to Marston and you to ParanoidFreak. And now you would tell me to forget that oath? To live for myself and no one else? Where is the sense in this?

We are men of honor, men that will never back down from a responsibility or the loyalties that we have sworn. So how can you tell me not to live for the sake of another?

Manius pulled on the cigarette that continued to grow in ash as he spoke. He flicked the ash on the tray that was on Mr. Galt's desk. Manius nodded to the man and pulled a bottle from his pocket. Offering Mr. Galt a swig before taking his own sip.

John nods at his friend Manius in understanding. Manius had in fact found a part of his speech where John had been unclear. The blame, of course, was on his own head. John had already thought his speech long enough without adding a longwinded explanation of the merits of mutual exchanges between self-made men. And to be sure, without that explanation John's speech left a glaring hole where employment relationships were concerned.

My friend, we have certainly taken oaths to enter into these families of ours. But I would draw a distinction between that and "living for the sake of another man." I, for one, chose to work for the late JackPepper and now ParanoidFreak as an expression of my own volition and because I felt that the terms of employment were favorable to me. Though I have worked and continue to work hard for these leaders, I have done so because it fulfills me as a person, not out of fear and not because someone told me that I had to.

No one has enslaved me and forced me to work for anyone at any time. I decided who I wanted to work for and approached those people about beneficial arrangements that we could reach. On those freely negotiated terms we entered into a mutual agreement for my employment. I work to better myself, and I work because it fulfills me as a person. I have made obscene amounts of money for myself, and I have made obscene amounts of money for my bosses. Everyone was happy with the terms of my employment, and at no time did I surrender my time unwillingly to my supervisors.

There is, of course, one group of people whose oaths are not the same. The prophets of death—the haters of life—who do not work for the love of life but instead to end it are often not working on terms that they find agreeable. The people I describe are employed only because they feel they must have a job or they would be found out for what they are: scum that just want to watch the world burn. These prophets of death resent every dollar that they earn for their employers and resent that they feel compelled to work for someone. But enough of that sort of individual. I speak not to the man who wants to watch the world burn, but to the man that wants to watch the world grow and thrive upon respect for life. To them I say: work for the people you choose to work for on terms agreeable to yourself and your employer. Embrace the benefits of mutual exchange, and think of your work as a positive good in your life.

With that, John smiled at Manius hoping that his response had filled the gap in the original speech. John certainly saw no problem reconciling his views with the fact that he had pledged himself to several leaders, so he knew that if there was a misunderstanding he would simply have to work to express himself better.