Today’s trending topic was actually a top trending topic Sunday night but I was trying to get a little ahead this week so I cheated – sue me. The topic is Ayn Rand, the deceased writer of the novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.
Rand’s ideas are getting a lot of new attention because they’ve become a talking point in the divisive battle ground that is our national political scene. But Rand was trending Sunday not only by those exploring ethical egoism but also those looking for find a date that isn’t a bleeding heart liberal.
Rand fans are flocking to the internet to find love and companionship in The Atlasphere, a dating website for her followers.
Here’s their mission statement:
“The Atlasphere's mission is to bring together admirers of Ayn Rand's novels, from around the globe, to network both personally and professionally.”
The topic is discussed in length here by Time’s Claire Suddath, who like me has never read Rand’s books but hears her name frequently in political discussion.
In the interest of full disclosure I do have Atlas Shrugged – it was a Christmas present from a coworker a few years ago but I don’t think I’m ever going to read it and not because I’m a liberal but because I’m lazy. I’m not going to read 1,200 pages of anything – even if it was a story about a fat kid from Odessa who found a magic lamp and became the starting small forward for the Lakers.
But I did find this story interesting because it reminded me of Scientology. Now, I know ethical egotism is a valid ideology whereas Scientology is science fiction about alien ghosts infesting our bodies but there is one similarity. Scientology started as a bunch of people liking a guy’s books and ended in religion. It’s not crazy to think it could happen again.
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