While not intrinsically altruistic, Libertarian principles, one might argue, would benefit everyone in a society which embraced them. Such principles could be characterized as a kind of self-serving altruism, to distinguish it from the kind of altruism that was exhibited by Lenny Skutnik so long ago.

"I remember when we first got down to the riverbank, there was no rescue equipment. It was very quiet -- that eerie quiet when it snows," Skutnik recalled this week. "And out of the quiet, this woman was yelling for help: 'Will somebody please help?' "