The Idea that Individualism Should Be Promoted in "Anthem" by Ayn Rand

In the novel “Anthem” Ayn Rand tries to represent the idea that everyone in the world should have opportunities to pursue their own happiness. She criticizes the philosophies of collectivism and socialism, which limit people’s individuality, and she also encourages people to join with Equality 7-2521 to escape from restrictions. The philosophy that Rand promotes in her novel is Objectivism, which is fully illustrated in her subsequent work by four tenets: reality, reason, self-interest, and capitalism. This philosophy is widely used by the contemporary world and there are many examples along history can prove the correctness and develop ability of Objectivism, such as the British would rather escape from England to the unfamiliar wild land instead of staying in the “advanced” British land and the rise of America and Japan by supporting self-interest and high technology can all tell the correctness of Objectivism.

A good society is freedom and has few laws. In the book “Anthem”, the government completely controls people’s lives. Everyone be identified by codes rather than names, the job is assigned by the vocation council and people in “Anthem” even do not have the opportunity to choose their own wives. “Since the Council does not know of this hole, there can be no law permitting to enter it. And everything which is not permitted by law is forbidden”, in this dystopian city, there never have a room of free, no matter for the individual to decide their own fairs and anything is not permitted than it is forbidden. However, the Founders believe a good society should have few laws, which are clear to the public and respected by them. The early American population is contributed a lot by the immigration of the British, they leave from Europe to live in this new and wild lands. Some settlers come here for religious freedom or seek wealth. In this “New World”, people can enjoy a great degree of freedom than in England.

Significantly, the seventeenth century is a revolution century. During this century, the British have launched the English Revolution, Civil War and Glorious Revolution, in this turbulent era, England's government also transformed from a monarchy to a republican form and established the English constitutional system, which greatly limited the powers of the monarch. Through the history of England, we learn that the residents do not prefer a lot of restrictions, they enjoy the freedom of life, so they can free to choose and do whatever they want. The laws should be a positive way to maintain the peace of society, instead of an obstacle to stint people’s life and happiness.

Self-interest is as important as the public interest. In the world of the novel “Anthem”, individualism is always behind the collective will. “We all one in all and all in one. There are no men but the great WE, One, indivisible and forever.” They do not have identities of their own, instead of group identity. Acting as individuals, thinking their lives as unique and caring about themselves can be seen guilty. Although the old moral philosophy announced: to be moral, one must sacrifice one’s self-interest to the needs of others. However, this old vision has been questioned through the rise of American capitalism. Tocqueville described the democracy of American: the free, robust society of energetic, enterprising individuals, mutually profiting from each other’s pursuit of their self-interest. This kind of the world has been called the individualism world, which gives people courage and has more confidence and determination to pursue wealth, and it also stimulates the prosperity of the industry. As the wild land, is far more behind than other countries because the abundance of land lack labour, however, the big support from government help people to gain success, such as expanding the system of credit in order to help entrepreneurs to accumulate capital and also improving the transportation system for raw material can reach the factories and consumers’ hands quickly and safely. Because the American government respect and support the development of individual or self- interest, so the economy of America can increase rapidly.

The industry is the foundation of a country. The society is described in the novel is no scientific and technological decay, because strict restrictions limit people’s minds and let people lose passion for innovation. “But we loved the Science of Things. We wished to know. We wished to know about all the things which make the earth around us. We asked so many questions that the Teachers forbade it”, Equality 7-2521 really loves science, and he successfully finds something very important.

Unfortunately, when he presents his work to the world council of scholars, they are horrified that he does something unauthorized and they want to punish him without appreciating. This rigid thinking limits the development of countries without doubts. Benjamin Franklin said, “Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all things easy.” As mountainous, volcanic island country, Japan has inadequate natural resources, but which is the world’s second-largest developed economy. Also Japan is ranked by one of the most innovative countries in the world and has the largest electric goods industries, which focuses on high-tech goods all the time. For example, Japan engages in optical instruments, hybrid vehicles, and robotics. Japanese already realize the importance of technology during the Meiji period (1868-1912), the governments start a new Western-based education system for all the young people and send them to Europe and America, they also hire more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology and English. So there is no doubt that why Japan can squeeze into the group of developed countries and even exceed some counties, which have better nature sources than Japan.

The idea mentioned by Rand should be promoted. Too many restrictions will inhibit people’s enthusiasm and let people satisfy their right now status and do not want to make progress. However, proper freedom can do the opposite job which makes wild land becoming attractive to invite a lot of immigrants to come and the liberal and open policies allow the economy of the US and Japan to grow dramatically. All examples tell us the benefits of Rand’s theory, so it is necessary to promote.

Work Cited

1. Rand, Ayn. Anthem. Champaign, Ill.: Boulder, Colo.: Project Gutenberg; NetLibrary, 19901999.