Anthem
Collectivism is when the products and wealth are controlled by the government and supposedly distributed evenly among the people. Socialism, commonly known as Communism is based on this idea of collectivism. The people work knowing that whether or not they produce a great or small amount, they will receive the same benefits that they are getting now. This system removes the idea of incentive. Incentive is when people work harder knowing that the harder they work, the more money or privileges they will receive. Collectivism pushes the importance of the community over individuals. It is known as a "We" society where anything and everything is for the benefit of the whole community. The "I" society is the natural law kind of society where there is the existence of truth and competition. Ayn Rand wrote using the principles of natural law to inform the reader about collectivism and how society was starting to look like it more and more. People in our take the term "I" for granted. They feel that all it means is a singular person. Through further studying of natural law, the word "I" develops a much more complex meaning because "I" is a type of natural law society, where the people look to themselves to help solv
"We stopped when we felt hunger. We saw birds in the tree branches, and flying from under our footsteps. We picked up a stone and we sent it as an arrow at a bird. It fell before us. We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food, which we need and obtained by our own hand. And we wished to be hungry again and soon, that we might know again this strange new pride in eating." (89) Freedom can only be obtained when there is competition according to natural law. Competition id defined as a struggle against your fellow man and environment to meet your physical and mental needs. Food under collectivism is supplied by those who are assigned to that job. This shows that collectivism can't have freedom with it because a person can't provide his own needs. Collectivism promotes cooperation which is really just dependence upon another for their own needs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In a collectivist society, the feeling of any kind of emotion, especially love, towards any other person. If one does express the feeling of love towards another, it doesn't promote equality for everyone. Love is a mental need essential under natural law. It is an emotion that is of positive value. Value is dependent on the amount of need or want you have for something. In the collectivist community, they accomplished reproduction by having "mating days" where everyone over the age of 18 was paired with one of the opposite sex. The female would give birth and have the baby taken away immediately so their weren't any specific sets of parents in which a child could love more than another. "And that night we knew that to hold the body of women in our arms is neither ugly nor shameful, but the one ecstasy granted to the race of men." (95) The love between these two was apparent throughout the story. They only were able to express themselves when they escaped and were on their ow! The book begins in a collectivist society with Equality 7-2521 writing the story in secret. "It
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ayn Rand, Uncharted Forest, Unmentionable Times, Rand Collectivism, Golden Equality, natural law, Corrective Detention, natural law society, equality 7-2521, law society, ayn rand, law competition, believe free, free equal, society competition, natural law competition, uncharted forest, love towards,
Approximate Word count = 1439
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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