I think it's mostly the disconnect from great achievement in science, art, even morality and truth from society's desires. that's f'ed up.

Ya I came across that quote somewhere, and it got me curious, as that was certainly not the impression I generally took away from the book, though there were things that seemed contradictory at the time.
Oh well. I still ended up here. ;-)

AR on Mill:
"Mill rejected the concept of individual rights and replaced it with the notion that the “public good” is the sole justification of individual freedom. (Society, he argued, has the power to enslave or destroy its exceptional men, but it should permit them to be free, because it benefits from their efforts.) Among the many defaults of the conservatives in the past hundred years, the most shameful one, perhaps, is the fact that they accepted John Stuart Mill as a defender of capitalism."

Mill's 'On liberty' and Bastiat's 'The Law' were a couple of the first books I read during my awakening. Mill's kinda lost me on a couple things, but I was much younger then.
I've used Bastiat's term "legal plunder" for years, and it always seems to help people to understand the essence of government action as we know it today.
Tocqueville also has a great many quotes I like, and is on my list of stuff to read.(which is about as long as my arm)

I stand corrected. I just went back and read that passage. thanks

It's a good AS quote, from Ferris confrontation with Rearden (before the trial) and maybe the best revelation of government's intent.
(I just posted that quote on another site this morning... fresh in my mind as a result ... reading AS again.)