Is Atlas Shrugging?

State budgets are suffering. Many of the most progressive states in the Union are burdened by huge budget deficits this year. The question is based on Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged, the thesis of which is the wealthy who support most of the weight of society's expenses will one day 'shrug' the weight of the world from their back. The idea is that there is a breaking point where the demands far exceed the gratitude. I wonder if this is a back door version of the author's premise? The rich are not actively shrugging, but because our republic has tethered the majority of its financial burden to the wealthy, is it appropriate to relying on the rich getting richer to pay the government's bills? Heaven knows, we sure do tear down 'the rich' during political debate while we rely upon their largess to fund government. Indeed, asking 5% of the population to pay 50% of the taxes is a recipe for disaster in an economic slowdown.

I don't agree with Rand's overall thesis, but perhaps she swerved into something. I am probably wrong in my question because of my limited research in past economic slowdowns, but I do know that the tax burden has been steadily transferred to the 'wealthy' over the past 20 years.