Collectivism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

In the book Anthem their society is way different from ours. They are not allowed to be individual or say the word “I”. They can’t have names, instead they are in groups and have group names. They all have a part in society like their jobs and things they do. For example the equality group belong to the street sweepers.

The author of the book Anthem, Ayn Rand, believes that one’s own individual choices and needs are more significant than everyone else’s. Her book Anthem shows this in countless ways. The main character Equality 7-2125, later known as Prometheus, learns to think individually and believes that individuality is more valuable than humanity as a whole. Since Rand wrote the main character to believe this, it makes since that she would believe this too.

All people are given the numbing safety of having no talents, no favoritism, and no ego. “Preach Selflessness. Tell a man that he must live for others. ”(The Soul of a Collectivist) By being one and the same, everyone is promised a sense of equality, something mankind fights over relentlessly.

As you see societies that are based on the same idea are always share differences and similarities between all of them. How the people of these societies deal with their situations and what they do during the day shows the differences in them. In Anthem, you see a society that the government has total control over and the people have no control over anything that happens and they are on a set schedule and they are just seen as workers and nobody is different. While in Divergent people are allowed to choose their future and they have some say in life and they aren’t just seen as workers they actually have a meaning where they come from. Looking at both of them based around the same thing shows the difference in government control and how people

Collectivist Society: The idea that people should prioritize the good of society over the welfare of the individual. Collectivism-- relating closely to the word collection—has to do with the political theory that put the group before the individual. The book Anthem by Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society that is very different from our society in America. The council in the book makes strict laws on how one should never exceed the rest of the population in any aspect; everyone must be the same. Before reading this book I would’ve definitely thought that a collectivist society would be a good thing; one wouldn’t have to worry about choosing a job, not being good enough, or being unlike the others, but Ayn Rand really shows the downside of it and how it is not a good way to live.

How could losing individuality affect a society? The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand is about a guy named Equality 7-2521 who is trying to find himself in a society where everything is controlled and different. Later, he finds himself even though he will have to go through many obstacles to get there. The process behind losing individuality in an Anthem’s society are in forcing strict laws, brain washing of their citizens, and removing of family. The Anthem society in forcing of strict laws made it easy for everyone to lose their individuality.

When one is confined to society and held captive against their ego, it is imperative that they learn to eulogize their own individuality, and learn to improve themselves. In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, Rand uses Equality 7-2521 to communicate the importance of the individual. Equality has always had his own sense of individuality that causes him to stand out and defy the social norms. His individuality allows him to persevere and diverge from collectivist society.

Tohniiya Yazzie per 1 Be unique in your own way, do not let other people tell you what to do. Anthem is a dystopian society. No one thinks for themselves, and there is no individuality, everyone has to think like a group. The leaders are called Council of Scholars and they tell everyone in the society what to think and do. No one is allowed to be different, and everyone is supposed to be the same, which is expected to make the society equal.

Rules and Subjectivity Society is fundamentally built upon rigid structure and control using rules to attempt to maintain order amongst a society comprised of many individuals. Inherently rules put at expense the freedom of individuals to achieve personal happiness in order to build a society comprised of more equally achieving individuals. Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem builds a society in which rules restrict all individual freedoms and force a more collective ideal. The rules put in place by the society are meant to make everybody collectively more happy and prevent inherent human subjectivity; however, inherent to human nature, rules can be subjectively interpreted. In contrast to the pre-existing society presented by Rand, Equality 7-2521 seeks

There can be no doubt that people should be morally free to live their own lives and pursue and develop their own interests, to a certain degree at the very least. This necessitates then that a person is morally permitted to dedicate one’s time, energy, and money to activities that don’t directly have an impact on famine relief or similar worthy causes. For example, it could frequently happen and has happened whereby certain pursuits and recreations have beneficial and favourable outcomes and consequences that could not have been foreseen. My argument lies with the issue that if people are not free to follow their intellectual interests when it is not obvious what positive impact they might have, or whether they would have any positive repercussions at all, humanity in general could be worse off than we actually are. This is tied to Singer’s argument if people are obligated to do as much as they possibly can, to aid famine relief, they would have to give up many of their own special projects and interests in order to do so.

Ayn Rand in her novel Anthem exhibits a society where people only purpose is to serve and better the community. Rand was writing Anthem, while World War 2 was emerging and she was watching countries change their views on society and the citizens in it. Some of these countries started to force their citizens into a mold. Thinking that society would be benefit if everyone was like-minded. Rand wanted to show these views in an extreme situation to demonstrate what could happen in the future if countries continued to do this.

Ayn Rand once said, “Collectivism holds that the individual has no rights, that his life and work belong to the group (to ‘society’, to the tribe, the state, the nation) and that the group may sacrifice him at its own whim to its interest.” In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, she depicts an anonymous, communist city in which no individual has any rights, they only exist for their “brothers”. Equality 7-2521 is a very venturesome and curious character that wants nothing more than to be an individual and live with no limits. The complication with Equality 7-2521 wanting to be his own individual is the rules and controls that comes with his collectivist society.

Imagine living in a world where people are unable to think for themselves and can only carry out actions that will better everyone else. That world is a collectivist society in which Ayn Rand forces her characters to live in her book. Anthem can be defined as a dystopian book because of the setting characterization, and the amount of government control. Anthem is set in the future. Equality writes in his journal saying, “They whisper many strange things of the towers which rose to the sky in those unmentionable time,” (Rand 19).

Collectivism and Selfishness in Anthem Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon.

In Ayn Rand’s Anthem, the idea of egoism is addressed. Is it wrong to be an egoist? The philosophy is a controversial subject; however, I believe that is acceptable to be an egoist. It is acceptable to be an egoist because it is the only way you will get anywhere in life, happiness will be more prevalent in our society, and the technology of our society would progress significantly. The Soul Of An Individualist will be analyzed as well to add validity to my opinions.