How does Atlas Shrugged portray the United States under collectivist rule?

In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand portrays a future United States on the brink of total economic collapse due to years of collectivist misrule. Under this system, the nation’s most productive and creative individuals—including scientists, industrialists, and artists—are systematically exploited to support an undeserving population of incompetents and "moochers".12

The novel depicts a society stifled by massive bureaucracy and heavy government regulation, which restricts the ability of individuals to operate freely. In response to this environment, the protagonist John Galt leads a strike of elite producers, withdrawing their talents from the economy to demonstrate the necessity of their leadership. As these creators abandon the system, the national economy and the collectivist social structure inevitably disintegrate, illustrating Rand’s objectivism—a philosophy that champions self-interest, reason, and capitalism as the highest moral ideals.12