Anthem Political Philosophical Book Freedom
Uploaded by SchoolStinks! on Jun 19, 2005
Ayn Rand's book, Anthem, is an incredible book that highlights the benefits of a free, individualistic society, over the Collective (the type that is presented by liberals, the Democratic Party, professors, media types, and other elites who "care" for us).
Anthem is a story about an individual who lives in a Collectivist society--the same type that would appear in communist Soviet Union or today's communist Cuba. I can see that these types of societies are not to be desired. Instead of thinking in terms of "I," everyone thinks of themselves in terms of their membership in the larger society, and thus the use of the term "we" to describe their ideas. Notice that identity politics today is very similar: if you are a member of a certain racial or ethnic group, you are expected to think in 'we' terms; whatever the group thinks should be accepted, regardless of your own best interests. (That is one reason why, for instance, President Bush's conservative judicial nominees, who are minorities, are being rejected. It is because their group leaders insist that they think in the 'we' context as opposed to the 'I.' If you think like an individual, be damned).
We see the triumph of the individual at the end of the book. There is a lot of emotion involved in this book. For instance, the hero in this novel notes that there was a period of time when people were free, when the Collectivist voices were just starting to take root. Yet, people were ignoring the concerns the Individualists had, and thus the Collectivists took over. We see the same thing today: the Collectivists are on a rampage: they think anytime we pay less in taxes it is evil; they insist that the government pay for health care, retirements, loss of wages due to unemployment, loss of wages due to competitive global markets; universal schooling, etcetera. It is just a way for the Collectivists to get a greater hold on us, yet few are paying any attention.
We ignore this book at our peril. Just like many of the other books warning us of the dangers of Collectivism, we should never forget that what may appear theoretical may just be true.
Thankfully, in this book, people will fight to regain an individualistic society. People will rebel. Thomas Jefferson said rebellion is good every now and then. A free society can encourage people to leave the...