Dating in the Atlasphere: Joshua Zader Brings Love to Ayn Rand's Fans

Joshua Zader's intellectual relationship with Ayn Rand began as it does for so many, during his college years. He then blazed a trail uniquely his own among Rand admirers by creating The Atlasphere—an online networking and dating site for the fans of Rand's novels with particular emphasis on The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Zader found inspiration in Rand's portrayals of independence and integrity, saying: "Rand's ethical vision was really one where we want to create a win-win world for everybody, and that there shouldn't be conflicts of interest among rational people if you're using an ethical system where everybody is treated as an end in himself." Zader has seen the real life impact of Rand's ideas through his work on The Atlasphere, which currently boasts over 19,000 members.

Zader discusses the some finer points of Rand's thought and novels, her supporters, her detractors, and her continuing impact. As a student of Buddhism, Zader explores how her ideas relate to what may seem like a conflicting view of the world. Zader: "Sometimes I see Buddhism as a set of practices in search of a philosophy, in an analogous way that Objectivism could be seen as a philosophy in search of a set of practices." Joshua Zader blogs at Mudita Journal.

Approximately 10 minutes. Joshua Zader was interviewed by Ryan Seals, filmed by Alex Manning and edited by Hawk Jensen.

It is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand.

For more videos and information, go to http://reason.org/rand

All videos are available for download in a variety of formats at http://reason.com

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• atlasphere
• ayn rand
• atlas shrugged
• fountainhead
• objectivisim
• libertarianism
• reason.tv
• reason magazine

[andristic]

i've been watching reason tv so much i feel like rand is my buddy.  i've never read any rand but i'm gonna!

[AshillaBeige]

Back when my boyfriend and I lived in different cities, he told me to read Atlas Shrugged, and we spent a lot of time discussing the novel. I have a lot of good memories about that. Kinda made me love him more since he agreed with principles of self-responsibility, self-esteem and ACTUAL love.

[joshfultondotblogspo]

Fucking nerds.



[truevoice08]

LOL so many Randroids here yammering about Buddhism. They're probably examples of the narcissists that Zader warns about. HAHA!

[stonedrenched]

Zader: "Sometimes I see Buddhism as a set of practices in search of a philosophy....." Dear friend Zader, People search for philosophy. The Buddha notes that no one ever got enlightened. Clearly, you have missed this point in your defense of the "right" philosophy. Zader Shrugs is just another philosophical pose - one that only adds legs to the snake.

[fififamiliya]

Asian bridals here # lushfmlk.info #

[El3ctricPenguin]

@ConstrainedNoMore what did you grow in to?

[buddharocket]

Zen doesn't ask you to believe in anything you cannot confirm for yourself. It does not ask you to memorize any sacred words. It doesn't require you to worship any particular thing or revere any particular person. It doesn't offer any rules to obey. It doesn't give you any hierarchy of learned men whose profound teachings you must follow to the letter. It doesn't ask you to conform to any code of dress. It doesn't ask you to allow anyone else to choose what is right for you and what is wrong. BW