Re: A=A: No Shit Alice, You think that one up all by yourself?
This ties in with something I said recently about the way Spider-Man is currently being written (and, yes, I am enjoying the irony of using Spider-Man to mock Ditko). I got the impression that the current writers have Spider-Man and various other heroes act the way they do as a way of saying "see, they may be superheros, but they really aren't any better than us." Similarly, Rand's philosophy is built on "No people are better (morally or ethically) than me and if they try to be, they're wrong and probably evil." At root, it's an expression of hatred towards humanity.
Now I'm wondering if Stan Lee's early analysis of J. Jonah Jameson was a dig at Ditko. Jameson says that he did all the right things, gave to good causes, took care of his family, etc, but his main motivation was being successful and if someone like Spider-Man can do what he does anonymously, with no reward, it makes his life meaningless. In the same way, if altruism really does exist, Rand's philosophy goes from being noble to being petty.