where to go?

you do know that if nukes go off, no place is really safe

we do not have the miracle energy system, nor do we have the miracle metal from the book

and i am not sure the book predicted a global camera system (in orbit) that can find anything on the surface and some distance below ground

we will do the best we can, the book is a warning, not a solution

Depart to where? Losers Quit. Winners never Quit. Be like Phileas Fogg.

I have cut all large corporate ties. I quit feeding the beast. I "Gulched". I am insulating myself from the corporate/political fascism that is rampant. I am not giving up my hope or assertions of right relations.
We, US, and globally are in another cycle of large trade feudalism. The pawns of the game. It just so happens that the US is the rebellious child within the historic matrix, and must be disciplined to conform. Try to push a string, herd cats or tell the rebel teen to conform, crush a handful of sand only to find more grains slip from the hand. Go ahead.

Two poems come to mind: 1944 prose interpretation from Tao te Ching by Witter Bynner
#29
Those who would take over the earth
And shape it to their will
Never, I notice, succeed.
The earth is like a vessel so sacred
That at the mere approach of the profane
It is marred
And when they reach out their fingers it is gone.
For a time in the world some force themselves ahead
And some are left behind,
For a time in the world some make a great noise
And some are held silent,
For a time in the world some are puffed fat
And some are kept hungry,
For a time in the world some push aboard
And some are tipped out:
At no time in the world will a man who is sane
Over-reach himself,
Over-spend himself,
Over-rate himself.

#38
A man of sure fitness, without making a point of his fitness,
Stays fit;
A man of unsure fitness, assuming an appearance of fitness,
Becomes unfit.
The man of sure fitness never makes an act of it
Nor considers what it may profit him;
The man of unsure fitness makes an act of it
And considers what it may profit him.
However a man with a kind heart proceed,
He forgets what it may profit him;
However a man with a just mind proceed,
He remembers what it may profit him;
However a man of conventional conduct proceed, if he be not complied with
Out goes his fist to enforce compliance.
Here is what happens:
Losing the way of life, men rely first on their fitness;
Losing fitness, they turn to kindness;
Losing kindness, they turn to justness;
Losing justness, they turn to convention.
Conventions are fealty and honesty gone to waste,
They are the entrance of disorder.
False teachers of life use flowery words
And start nonsense.
The man of stamina stays with the root
Below the tapering,
Stays with the fruit
Beyond the flowering:
He has his no and he has his yes.

It's my understanding that the original title of the book was "The Strike". Very applicable. I've read and seen enough to be of the mindset that western civilization will just keep getting worse. I'm rounding the wagons a bit in my life.

What are the fundamental ideas that Rand presented to us in AS? Are they the actions of the characters? Or their words? Or something else?

Was AS actually prophetic? "Now, in NON-FICTION!" Did Rand instead intend it to be preventive and constructive? Who among us has the power to be constructive?

Consider the fate of Eddie Willers.

Losers keep empowering the forces that hate them.

Not yet. We must not surrender without a fight.

NEVER
NEVER
NEVER
GIVE UP!!!

You should read "Enjoy the Decline" by Aaron Clarey. We are at an "Atlas Shrugged" moment. the looters and moochers vastly outnumber the producers, and vote accordingly. There aren't enough of us to turn things around, so the best you can do is insulate yourself and enjoy life as much as possible while you can.