No, not too harsh at all.
How do I get to Galt’s Gulch, BTW?
It’s going to be somewhere in Alaska....
Remember, Galt's Gulch was the month-long vacation destination. What the Shruggers did in daily life was dial back their creative labor to produce only enough for themselves, with no overage for the state to steal. Make yourself debt-free, including mortgage, then find a low-effort job like Hugh Akston, the university professor who became a short-order cook.