Much like you I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead when I was younger and believed in Objectivism even into adulthood. It wasn't until the Tea Party in the US started that I realized this is nothing but a bunch of whiny people acting like a 3 year-old crying that they have to share a toy and using Ayn Rand's insane philosophy to justify it.

Needless to say I grew up and jettisoned Objectivism. How crazy is to believe that by being selfish you are maximizing society's greater good? It just spawned massive societal injustices and fostered imbalances.