Atlas Shrugged

AtlasShrugged is a novel by AynRand, first published in 1957 in the UnitedStatesOfAmerica. As indicated by its working title The Strike, the book explores a dystopian UnitedStates where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. The protagonist, DagnyTaggart?, sees society collapse around her as the government increasingly asserts control over all industry, while society's most productive citizens, led by the mysterious JohnGalt?, progressively disappear. Galt describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the "minds" that drive society's growth and productivity; with their strike these creative minds hope to demonstrate that the economy and society would collapse without the profit motive and the efforts of the rational and productive.