Rand portrays innovative industrialists as akin to Atlas in Greek mythology, carrying on his back a dystopian world of growing and overbearing collectivist government. The hero, John Galt, calls for them all to shrug, to “stop the motor of the world” by withdrawing from their productive pursuits, rather than promoting a world in which, under the guise of egalitarianism, incentives have been usurped in order to protect the politically connected from economic failure.
兰德描绘了一批类似希腊神话中的阿特拉斯的创新性实业家，在他们背上背负着一个不断膨胀的傲慢的集体主义政府的反乌托邦世界。英雄约翰·高特呼吁实业家耸耸肩，收回他们的生产性活动，让“世界的马达停下”，不要让这个世界在平均主义的伪装下产生保护政治关系集团经济利益的激励。