When "altruism" is mandated, it ceases to be altruism. It is then slavery. People don't get that often. People who genuinely care about other people and would give of their time, money, etc. on their own often fail to make that connection. I know several people like that.
Another great point brought up on this thread...Kudos to you too MichiganConservative.
I have been making this point in several recent discussions with friends who mistakenly think in this same way. They think that people will never give of their own time and money to help people, so they are comfortable when the government does it for them. Again, as mentioned in the article, this is because people are lead to believe that it is someone else's money going to pay for all of the government "altruism." People who don't think altruism exists are either victims or products of class envy themselves.
Ideally we would cut the government's income by about 2/3 and have the government engaged only in constitutionally authorized activities. With all the "extra" wealth people would have - they could afford to donate their time or money to truly altruistic ends. I am told though, that people will not do this because they are greedy. It's the government bureaucracies that are greedy...