A Life Raft off of a Sinking Ship

Finally, we (and Dagny, for that matter) find out where all of the scientists, engineers, innovators, and businessmen have gone. We learn that they have been sheltered in a remote valley, shielded by a cloaking device. They have become self-sufficient, and even have become more affluent/well-off than the rest of the population. They have both the man that Dagny was looking for and the creation that she wanted him to build. This model society has everything it needs to survive without outside help and without outside interference. Could this be a metaphor for Heaven? All these people who live here have disappeared from the rest of the world, gone without a trace. They've left behind families, businesses, and lives. Same thing with death; when people die (of unnatural causes), they leave everything behind without any indication that they had known that they would die. The scene seems tranquil enough to be considered heaven (lush valley surrounded by mountains), and they all live in peace with seemingly infinite energy and food.

My question, though, is this: Why are all of these excellent professional men who are truly the saviors of this damned society simply hiding away instead of actually turning the economy around? They have the power to make clean, inexpensive energy, and they have the ability to create a new town/country. Why can't they just let America start over fresh, running the country for the benefit of the common people?

What I am thinking is that these "saviors" are just as nearsighted and selfish as the looters that roam the rest of America. They've escaped the sinking ship that is the economy on a life raft that only the first class people can get into. They've kept the last shred of freedom and wealth to themselves, and let the rest of the world rot. A perfect example of this is the message posted on the building that houses the engine: "I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." They've produced the most civilized version of "every man to themselves" that I have ever seen. I feel that these "great" men have stooped down low enough that they themselves are in a "valley" of human dignity.

Do I think that society can bounce back from this downfall? No. These great men have shunned the rest of the world to eternal damnation.