Why egoism/selfishness (Randian/libertarian philosophy) is self-refuting

[YoungDemCA]

Anyone who adopts the Randian/libertarian philosophy of selfishness will have to count on other people *not* being selfish. Think about it: By any standard, is it in any one individual's "self-interest" for all the other people to think only of themselves?

Selfishness is perfectly OK-provided that you're the one being selfish. When coming into contact with other people, however....you might want to rethink your worldview.

What Randianism/libertarianism looks like in practice are some individuals selfishly taking advantage of the generosity of others, and of society at large. Because most people are not inherently egotistically selfish, and most people certainly are not anti-social. But those who only think of themselves and act at the expense of others find ethical justification for being egotistical assholes in the Randian/libertarian ideology.

[EOTE]

1. Conservatism relies on everyone else to be liberals.

Hence the emphasis on charitable donations and such rather than progressive taxation. Liberalism, on the other hand, realizes that a good chunk of the country is comprised of asshole conservatives.

[YoungDemCA]

2. +1

You said it.