I like the review, As I read the book, I imagined the protagonists being the "vital few" of their industries with everyone able to be the vital few of their little corner of the world. The protagonists were the vital few of their industries but the same story could have been told from the point of view of people who weren't at the top of that world. Maybe the guy who told Dagny the story of the little shrew who doled out alms at the motor plant is the top of some obscure area of the world like a coin collectors' website. He benefited from the Dagny's of the world, and she would benefit if she ever had a need for a coin expert. Everyone had been free to explore their little corner of life, but more and more the gov't had been intruding creating problems for people.