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This is my first reading of the book and I ran out to B&N yesterday to get a copy for this book club. She does such a great job of creating the atmosphere of indifference that I have been as frustrated while reading the book as I have been trying to have a discussion with liberals. I'd especially like to pinch Jim Taggart's head off, as he reminds me of so many civil servants or union members or corporate bureaucrats I've had to deal with.

It is that "altruism" that Rand considered the greatest threat to mankind's ultimate success. And it is a theme that will be repeated ad infinitum throughout the book.

It's one of those 'virtues' that can be very self-serving for the doer and actually harmful for the receiver, depending on the intent. Libs have carried it to the extreme by confiscating money from others to use it to build their own egos. BTW, she's in excellent company. Thoreau didn't look kindly on philanthropy either, even back in the 1800's when it wasn't carried to an extreme (from Walden):
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve.

Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it.

The philanthropist too often surrounds mankind with the remembrance of his own castoff griefs as an atmosphere, and calls it sympathy.

This is my first reading of the book

Mine too! It's been sitting on my shelf for years, and I never got around to reading it until now.

Unfortunately, I read a spoiler online, so now I think I know where the story is going. OTOH, the spoiler might have made the plot sound more interesting and compelled me to finally start reading it. Glad this book club has been started here.