Hmmm...I must disagree on a couple of points. First, Smaug did NOT work hard to gain his wealth - The dwarves, Thorin's family and so forth, were the ones who created the treasure - which Smaug then proceeded to take by force from the creators. How different is this to the mentality and methods of the "looters" in Atlas Shrugged? Also, I doubt Ayn Rand would have preferred Mordor, Isengard and all their technology to the "masses of little people". She was a technology lover and Tolkien a Luddite, but Sauron and Saruman sought to use their technology to rule people by force, something Rand disapproved of. Remember also that the ring-making "technology" was invented by the Elves for nonviolent purposes but stolen by Sauron to make the One Ring, a weapon of control - Compare this to Project X, invented by State scientists using methods and theories invented by Dr. Stadler just for pure science's sake. Just my brain running off on "analysis" mode...
Welll, I was being tongue-in-cheek re Smaug as in much of my comment, but I doubt she'd have liked the little folks.
As to the technology, it reminds me of The Fountainhead where the hero rails against his professors for only using classical designs instead of using the new materials, tech, etc to apply new concepts. I think of Sauron's rings as being his own usage and spells. After all the Elvish ones weren't control oriented, so his was innovative. As to Project X, well, Sauron did most of his own work on magic items. As to his orcisah forges and weapons smiths, how diufferent is that from the Gondorian arsenals? NB - As an odd note, bear in mind that had Sauron been absent, it is likely the Goblins/orcs woul dbe hunted slowly to extinction. Hard to see the shire happily accepting Orcish refugees....
Simply put, Ayn Rand was an orc.