In Atlas Shrugged, a character flaw of Dagny's, and Hank Rearden, seemed to be their focus on exclusively their business, allowing politicians and legislators to run their course. Dagny often deferred to Jim on such matters, and Rearden's choice of a lobbyist was ill-advised.

Should they be required to govern more than just their companies? Should they be forced to choose: submit to a higher authority, or leave to a secluded gulch?

To me, Tocqueville's Democratic Revolution, which spread the equality of conditions throughout the whole of society, is but a precursor of a totalitarian Marxist regime. The state becomes an enforcing, compulsory community which dictates what it wishes. It becomes a vehicle for collecting popular will, whether through knowing collaborators or unsuspecting masses.

Is the gulch, then, the only means of escape for the enlightened individual? Or must he take a part in the affairs of the state?