Ayn Rand’s Definition of When a Nation is Doomed

“When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you. . . you may know that your society is doomed.” 

“Atlas Shrugged” – Ayn Rand

• p. 413 ; Francisco d’Anconia to Bertram Scudder