Atlas Shrugged

This weekend I finally finished my re-read of this conservative classic.
Will not go into plot description of the epic book of nearly 1,200 pages.
Many hold this book up as a prophesy of liberal ascension.
I do agree that the books appraisal of liberal intent and practice the political equation is accurate. Today we are experiencing the liberal death by a thousand cuts, this a slow march toward establishing a reliance on government support, that in exchange for a relinquishment of personal rights. States rights are obliterated, as we just saw when the Federal government sued and won the right to force South Carolina to accept bailout money, that in exchange for commitment to Federal programs that the Governor of the state rejected.
Liberal intent, in my opinion, is two pronged. First you have the citizens who are driven by either personal greed (for handouts) or self loathing, anxious to promote growth in government scope. Second, you have the ruling class, a group eager to increase the scope of government for the sake of amassing power. Those in the second group are dishonest to those in the first. In this second group you have the Kerry's, the Kennedy's, the Rockefeller's and the Corzine's of the political elite, wealthy beyond imagination, earned by strong business practice, but for public consumption advocate only the needs of the poor. This many judge to be pandering for votes, insincere.
The books description of business practice is not so accurate, placing the greatest importance of the business success on the singular entrepreneur. The plot is centered on people that you would call giants of industry. Today the giants are corporate CEO's driven by profit margins and focused little on capital growth. Coupled with a ever growing governmental demand for taxes, there is little impetus for creative capital investment.
Much of the book is insightful and foreboding, a political treatise in a fictional mode.
The plot is fantastic, and in spite of the behemoth size, a fast read.