Two points worthy of bringing to attention. The pie needs to exist and it needs to be accessible to the looters. Lacking either, the beast starves.
as nonsensically as if a waterwheel were ordered to continue turning while the river is stopped
But, but, but....
the waterwheel NEEDS to turn:)
“He’d be either on foot or in a battered wreck of a car that’s got a million-dollar motor.” No, no, no, this won’t do at all.
For readability I imagined this as a phrase that meant they had given chase earlier but couldn't catch up. Perhaps because it was well tuned by a competent mechanic. I'm sure, however, that Rand was implying it was more than that.
I posed the question of whether there are, in the act of Atlas shrugging, no innocent victims. Rand here implies that there are not
I believe that this applies to Rands take on the Robin Hood reference as well. The serfs are not able or willing to stand up to the injustices they are subjected to.
Thanks for the post Billthedrill.