[Publius]

Just as in the simulated cellar at the top of a penthouse, the world is upside down.

Good. Rand is fond of symbols and metaphors. Connect this to the rotted out tree in the first chapter.

[IronJack]

It is Keats’ “widening gyre” — all symbol and no substance. The center does not hold. This is obviously a society in the last stages of terminal decadence, where “mere chaos” is loosed and mediocrity has become the new aspiration.