Orcs and Dorks

The corner of conservatism that always seems to draw fresh infusions of gullible nut jobs is "libertarianism."  It's a fiction of a philosophy that, when applied to real life, would fail spectacularly because everyone would be on their own, with no common purpose or goal except the exercise of selfishness.  It has followers among the Rethug political firmament, including Alan Greenspan, Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan, Sen. Tailgunner Ted Cruz, and former Rep. Ron Paul, who named his son Rand after one of the movement's main philosophers, Ayn Rand.  Rand didn't call her "philosophy" libertarianism, she called it "objectivism," but it's a distinction without a difference.

John Oliver, on his new HBO show Last Week Tonight, took on Rand and her influence decades after her death.  The influence endures, although it might surprise and offend many right-wingers that Rand was an outspoken atheist.  Indeed, after this fact was pointed out to conservative Catholic Lyin' Ryan, he disavowed his practice of requiring his interns to read Rand's Atlas Shrugged and said he wasn't such a fan of hers after all.

As worthy blogger John Rogers once noted:

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."