Anthem
Says Rand to these ideas,
"Social gains," "social iams," "social objectives" have become the daily bromides of our language. The necessity of a social justification for all activities and all existence is now taken for granted. There is no proposal utrageous enough but what its author can get a respectful hearin gand aprobation if he claims that in some undefined way it is for "the common good."Some might think-though I don't-that nine years ago there was some excuse for men not to see the direcion in which the world was going. Today, the evidence is so blatant that no excuse can be claimed by anyone any longer. Those refuse to see it now are neither blind nor innocent.
The greatest guilt today is that of people who accept collectivism by moral default; the people who seek protection from the necessity of taking a stand, by refusing to admit to themselves the nature of that which they are accepting; the people who support plans specifically designed to achieve serfdom, but hide behind he empty assertion that they are lovers of freedom, with no concrete meaning attached to the word; the people who believe that the content of ideas need not be examined, the principles need not be defined, and that facts can be eliminated by keeping one's eyes shut. They expect, when they find themselves in a world of bloody ruins and concentration camps, to escape moral responsibility by wailing: "But I didn't mean this!"
Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it by its proper name. They must face the full meaning of that which they are advocating or condoning; the full, exact, specific meaning of collectivism, of its logical implications, of the principles upon which it is based, and of the ultimate consequences to which these principles will lead.
They must face it, then decide whether this is what they want or not.
--Ayn Rand
April, 1948
I find it almost disturbing that in 1948, a relatively unknown objectivist philosopher who recently had immigrated into the United States could make such a statement on the nature of our world, specifically on the political agenda of our own nation. It's interesting to note the progression (digression?) of our collective ideologies concerning personal freedoms from being an "inalienable right" to being an inalienable right provided that these freedoms don't pose an immediate threat to our relative safety, don't mass murder people, blow up a building to make a statement or swing half of the countries opinions on our most pressing and controversial issues as a country in one direction or another. It's disturbing the rate at which we've decided to give up these freedoms. Somehow we, with the present government's assistance, have diluted ourselves into believing that to relinquish these natural rights is a sure way to attain a tangible, though false, sense of protection and freedom.
Inevitably, I will continue to update along these lines as six years after reading the novel for the first time, I will be reading it again. No doubt that I will have new opinions and probably many. It's a fantastic read, both thought-provoking and subtly shocking at the same time.
I'm running late for a class I don't really want to go to, but I want to leave you with a few quotes before I'm off...
"Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it. We are twenty-one years old. We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall. Ever have the Teachers and the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: 'There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers.' But we cannot change our bones nor our body.""We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it. This is our wonder and our secret fear, that we know and do not resist.
We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over the portals of the Palace of the World Council, there are words cut in the marble, which we repeat to ourselves whenever we are tempted: 'We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisble and forever.'
We repeat this to ourselves, but it helps us not."
"We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist througy, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen."
"It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgment of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect."
"I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is but a speck of dust lost in eternity. I know not and I care not. For I know what happiness is possible for me on earth. And my happness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose."
"I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them. The fortune of my spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as alms for the poor of the spirit. I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And greatest of these is freedom."
On a totally unrelated sidenote, I've heard that my Stefan is getting better and I can only hope that he continues the trend. Send him good thoughts and prayers, please.
Love to all--
Arianne
