Same here. Read Atlas Shrugged like four times, starting in high school. But as you get older, if you keep an open mind, you start to see that altruism isn’t a bad thing. I think it is the “liberty” part that gets us all because the first reaction to the word “liberty” is to say “Uhmmm- liberty good”, then you realize all the stuff built into their concept. Somewhere there has to be some common sense.
parsy
re: “altruism isn’t a bad thing”
Most libertarians I know favor altruism. They oppose government mandating the politically correct form of altruism.
There are many forms of libertarianism. Some strains have a pagan tilt; others an aetheist tilt; others a Bhuddist tilt. But the dominant strain is Judeo-Christian.
Judeo-Chrsitain libertarianism starts with the question of the first genocidal murderer and liar. In an attempt to change the subject and distract God from the truth, Cain asked God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Judeo-Christian libertarians reject that false premise of the first murderer. I am not my brother’s keeper. I am my brother’s brother.
The mistake of many non-libertarians is to fall into the trap set by Cain. They believe that they are their brothers keeper. They believe that it is their job to impose their agenda on their brothers. For them, the only distinction is between the well intentioned do-gooder who is a good master of the plantation and the evil-selfish master who abuses his power over others.