I see what you are saying, dig. And of course, what you say is correct from that perspective.
But you can go to Legoland and remark upon the fact everything is made of lego, and then you can also note that the buildings are different. And then you can wonder if the rain or the wind or the sun may affect the structures, and by affecting the structures affect the composition of the lego.
I think we agree but we are simply talking about the same thing viewed from different angles.
At the species level, where sub-populations of alleles are distinct, the balance between selfishness and altruism is important. That is kinda what The Selfish Gene is about.
If you want to read a really useful little book on evolutionary justifications for morality, I recommend The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley. Draws together all sorts of strands from Maine lobster fishermen and the spontaneous emergence of property rights, the tragedy of the commons, evolution, the prisoners' dilemma and suchlike to show why some degree of altruism is not just virtuous, it is socially efficient.
Once you know that, it is hard to see Ayn Rand as delivering anything but a harsh social theory in which entirely selfish people try to justify their greed in a make-believe land. Sure, that works in fiction.
It is very clear that the Republican Party is in the grip of an attempt to make America into a Rand Republic. To do so, they must collectively shut their eyes to reality.
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