Feeling a Bit Ayn Randy...

This nibblet in New York magazine a couple of weeks ago caught my attention: "Free-Market Meat Market".

Apparently, TheAtlasphere.com, a site dedicated to all things Ayn Rand, has an Internet dating service. Isn't that just the way lovers of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead should become lovers?

A Sample Fare:

"lostpainting" of MD
"Please note: If you're overweight, I won't date you. If you believe in God, I won't date you. If you vote for Democrats, I won't date you."

"Lewis" of London, UK
"I love intelligent, sassy girls, particularly those working in consulting or investment banking...nothing is hotter than an accomplished girl in a suit, as long as she is willing to settle down and have my children. I want a girl who will support my ambitions against the naysayers in society." [ed note: Well Stud, considering the current economy, which one might say has a lot to do with the puzzling policies of self-proclaimed Ayn Rand fan Alan Greenspan, your girl-in-a-suit might just shimmy up to your shiny proposal a bit faster than she might have this time last year. Cowboy up!]

"Rob", CA
"...I am interested in meeting someone that truly embodies the values and virtues of Objectivism. I have found very few women that have not already been beaten down to a flimsy, irrational, empty pulp. I have changed many girls' lives, but no one has blown me away yet...I have yet to find a girl deserving of my falling in love with her. But 'other people' are secondary values no matter what, so finding someone is not a priority for me." [ed. note: good thing!]

The WordBird says...
Ayn Rand was a clear thinker with keen insights into humanity. Her penumbra seems to be the same one that darkens the light of all thinkers on the leading edge: juvenile sycophants who get what their hero is saying without getting it at all. (Well, actually--I suppose the point here is that there are a lot of randy readers of Ayn Rand who aren't getting any, much less "it".)

Ironic, since Rand's own philosophy was that success is predicated on clear thinking.

However, I have noticed that clear thinking and the elevation of anyone to a savior/hero status is perhaps nearly, if not always, mutually exclusive. As soon as you canonize the words of someone and adhere to them at the exclusion of considering the ideas of others--especially your own, given that you are not psychotic and/or sociopathic--then you have essentially created a cult. Once entered into a cult, you have forfeited your freedom.

But, I thought these people were just looking for love...

Speaking as a Miss Know-it-All, I say they're looking to identify and be identified. They're looking for a shield of certitude against a world of "WTF?". In other words, they are looking for answers, safety, and meaning. That's why I say that they "get it", but then they don't "get it". As with any dogma, whether it is Conservatism, Liberal thinking, Green Peace activism, religion, sports team fanaticism (this would include me and my Yankees fixation), what starts out as an ideal that resonates with what you believe your core values to be, soon hardens into a short hand for identifying yourself.

Once you move from the long form to short hand, you gain convenience, but lose the nuances that pulsed just brightly enough for you to seek answers in the first place. And you get stuck. Someone has already defined freedom for you, so you don't have to think anymore. Phew.

The danger in that, is that freedom's oxygen is change. If you're not reviewing your thoughts and asking if they need to change, you're un-enlightened. I would also say that you are a pain in the butt. That's because if you're not considering what matters to you anymore, you're not living your life thoughtfully and with meaning, and so need others to do it for you. Of course, there are plenty of people willing to take your money and time and other resources to do just that, but more than likely, you end up dull and unproductive because your life is meaningless to you, and then what? You're a drag on everyone else. Your self-pity is time consuming and expensive.

Just think of poor Rob from CA--isn't it a pity he's full of so much pity that most women are so pitiful? Doesn't make you want to run into his arms, though, does it? What a pity. Imagine what fun he is to have around.

What the hell does this have to do with lonely hearts in the land of the laissez-faire?

This: These particular Ayn Rand lovers are fundamentalists. And--a glorious testament to America in all her Constitutional glory. (That goes for Lewis in the UK, too.)

Their search that apparently is not for physical contact, but for the perfect mate who thinks identical thoughts with absolutely NO deviation from the "Dogma of Ayn Rand" is a mockery of Ayn Rand's brilliance that championed individualism. But they do illustrate well her tenet that you must know human nature and accept it, not fight it.

In this case, that means understanding that fundamentalism is not the purview of religion, but of humanity. Being a fundamentalist is a choice we make when we decide to hand over to the group all our faculties for clear thinking. All of us will either have to do it at some point, such as when we are children and can't rely only on our own faculties; or will do it at some point, such as when we allow the groups we're affiliated with to become our shorthand for what we think...

That's why our Constitution is so amazing, and so humane. We can express our dogmatic selves any way we want, until we want to do it in another style (ahem). All this humanity breaking out everywhere, including in horny free-market dating chat rooms, is covered under the plan. To take advantage of it, all we need do is think, clearly.

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