Collectivists control more of the world than you think. Look around and observe people fleeing countries with autocratic dictators. If that makes you angry, Rand and you have more in common than you previously thought.
Rand warns the world about the dangers of collectivism. She preaches cultures valuing individualism have the most freedom. Collectivism hinders economic progress and abusive leaders disrespect the individual. Racism is the most basic form of collectivism emphasizing views on genetic inferiority.
Her war against collectivism is an intellectual one she displays in novels like Anthem (1938). Great ideas provide protection against tyranny. And individualism leads the fight.
Continue reading to help prevent oppression.
Ayn Rand’s Individualism Supremacy
How did you hear of Ayn Rand? Did her ideas move you? Or are you her opposition believing in collectivism?
Rand’s promotion of individualism comes from her heart and soul. She believes in the best for her fellow citizens. And she wants you to find that within yourself.
I will let her provide her views on individualism with the quote below:
“Individualism regards man- every man- as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life…”
Ayn Rand- Virtue of Selfishness
In other words, you- as an individual- have preference to decide how you want to live your life. You have a rational existence able to decipher between fact and fiction.
She rejects people who should live for the group. Her beef with collectivism is that it is involuntary. You’re told what to think and do. Individuals disappear and become like artificial intelligence (AI) gone rogue.
You’re incapable of independent thought, and that’s a scary proposition. The big difference between robots and individuals is that humans separate their feelings from their minds. Robots have no emotion and are, therefore, unaware of their potentially harmful decisions.
Also, individualism helps hold society together. It provides a means of peaceful coexistence recognizing the specific needs of each person.
Rand’s Belief in the Protection of Individual Rights
The government’s fundamental job is to protect individual rights. Constitutions protect rights and restrict government infringement. And countries with these protections thrive.
Constitutions and rights are like priceless artifacts in a museum. Lasers and protective glass shield this item from would-be robbers and thieves.
In this case, the artifact is our Constitution protected by the citizenry. Robbers are the people who want to restrict individual liberty.
The complex security the Constitution provides happened on purpose. Rand knew the Founding Fathers studied past governments to prevent tyranny. If you didn’t learn from history, you’re bound to repeat the same mistakes.
Rand believed in government checks and balances and unalienable rights.
Individual rights are crucial to Randian philosophy and individualism worldwide.
Ayn Rand speaking against collectivism. The reporters actually let her talk instead of interrupting her.
Political Collectivism and Why It’s Evil
Throughout her writings, she stresses the evils of collectivism. In a collection of essays titled The Virtue of Selfishness and her book Anthem, she speaks against these injustices.
Examples in The Virtue of Selfishness
Again, in collectivism, you’re at the whims of the group. Mob rule wins the day.
She discussed an idea elites call “collective rights”. This is a false premise. How can groups have collective rights?
Society contains individuals as the foundation- not collective groups. Who decides what collective rights are?
If you look at this concept closer, you’ll find this is impossible. Rights originate from individual members willingly.
For instance, capitalist transactions in society are voluntary. It exists without coercion. Companies and paying customers respect each other’s rights.
The customer has a right against fraudulent products. Companies have the right to maximize profit and collect payment for their goods and services.
Each party has mutual benefit with individual choices and agreements.
Thus, any right not derived voluntarily is a decree and tyrannical. According to Rand, beneficial agreements are the only moral foundation for individual rights.
Here are examples of voluntary organizations:
- business partnerships
- political parties
- trade organizations
- day-to-day capitalist transactions
Here is a quote to summarize groups that don’t recognize individual rights:
“…any group activities that does not recognize individual rights is a doctrine of mob rule or legalized lynching.”
Ayn Rand – The Virtue of Selfishness
The language used in this quote is vivid.
Collective action shatters people’s best intentions and hampers economic progress. You wouldn’t be able to participate in the free market with the term “collective rights”. You have no choice.
They’d block you at every attempt to improve yourself. Someone would find fault with any little action.
Ayn Rand Related Articles:
• In philosophy, opposites don’t attract. LEARN MORE how Marx and Rand are opposites in my article. Their ideas will never converge into a bliss with unicorns.
• Altruism is supposed to be good, right? LEARN MORE about why Rand detests altruism. Yes, this is controversial subject many don’t explore. I give you insight on the why of the subject.
Anthem Examples of Collectivism
A novel’s power gives credence to your imagination a non-fiction book can’t accomplish.
I will give you the basic themes presented in Anthem. For the first reason, I provide you with an actual historical example related to the book. Then, in the next reason, I give you a general example from Anthem.
- Leads to a Primitive Society
Collectivists regress in economic development and living conditions for their people. A historical example is the Ukrainian farms in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Stalin instituted communal farming practices once he consolidated power in the Soviet Union. He took individually owned farms and made them large state-run organizations.
In 1928, the collectivized rate started at 3.8% and grew to nearly 70% by 1932. Peasants joined the farms due to state thugs strong-arming them. And no one managed these farms efficiently.
This resulted in mass famine. Estimates confirmed that over 3.9 million- or 13% of the Ukrainian population- perished due to famine in 1932-1933.
Collectivist policies led to mass economic degrowth and primitive societies starving people.
Rand escaped to the United States before much of this took place. But you see the implications of primitive societies.
- Kills Individual Thoughts
In collectivist thinking, you lose your individuality. You’re told how to cut your hair, what clothes are acceptable, and what to think.
You’re silenced and can’t criticize your leader. Shouldn’t you be able to speak out against anti-liberty policies?
In a free democratic society, you can. Collectivists want you to blindly praise a leader. Citizens attend meetings to glorify them out of duty and obedience. You see this in Anthem.
Dictators suppress individual thought. This is an attack on individualism. They tell you what values you should have.
In the novel, Rand shows you how the state bans the word “I”.
I leave you with this Ayn Rand quote.
“Dictatorship nations are outlaws.”
Ayn Rand- The Virtue of Selfishness
Racism- A Collectivist’s Way for Division
Rand believes racism is the most basic form of collectivism.
Judging someone by their predetermined genetic makeup is unacceptable. A person can’t control what skin color they’re born into.
Conclusions should be made on individuality or thought. Racism also promotes inferiority. I will give you an example of this below.
Rand includes 2 fundamental reasons why racism supports collectivism and negates a person’s life:
1. Lack of Choice
Individualism involves choice. Promoting racism leads to zero options for the accused.
A person who believes in racism believes every part of life is predestined based on skin color.
We’re taught in America our choices have consequences. If you can’t make decisions, you become paralyzed to a life of chance.
This spells disaster for you to progress.
2. Reason
Rand believed in absolute reason as one of her pillars of objectivism. There is no explanation for racism and no intellectual arguments for it.
Also, Rand equates racism with the rise and falls of collectivism. Regimes use statist power to inflict horrible policies.
In The Virtue of Selfishness, she tells the story of a survey the Soviets required peasants to fill out. The survey required disclosure of whether peasants owned property. Collectivists wanted to know whether they belong to the Proletariat Class.
If you want to know more about what Karl Marx thinks of individualism, LEARN MORE by reading my post on Karl Marx and individualism. I also tell you what the Proletariat is if you don’t know.
This classic racist Marxist tactic of promoting inferiority. It is evil and you need to know about it. It promotes class warfare.
Communists use this type of collectivism to divide people. Promoting genetic differences keeps people apart and the discussion silent. So, political opposites don’t make progress on differences.
Thus, you’ll have a dynamic leader stating they can solve the problem. Instead of resolving issues, they promote physical differences, which is racist. This supports “gang rule” as Rand states.
If you look at gangs around the world, they’re a subculture of the dreads of collectivism.
Autocratic regimes like the German Nazis and Russian Soviets used racism to divide people. They disguised it as a collective effort to rid the world of Jews and capitalists.
Conclusion
Put simply, Ayn Rand supports the individual over the collective. In a political sense, the collective won’t have your best self-interest. You- as an individual member of society- determine your best path.
Rand spoke from experience. She escaped Soviet tyranny to take part in capitalist America. “The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” provided her with opportunities absent in her homeland.
Individual rights- such as private property- didn’t exist in the Soviet Union.
For example, Stalin seized many Ukrainian farmers’ lands. They starved as a result, and this is the standard in collective farming.
Rand wrote many novels like Anthem and Atlas Shrugged to depict the tragedies of collectivism. Novels give you vivid imagery where non-fiction books fail.
Also, racism is the most basic form of collectivism. It results in an autocratic effort to denounce the traits of others.
In the end, Rand champions you. To her, you’re like the shooting star aiming for indefinite greatness as long as you heed her warnings against collectivism.
Do you think collectivism is on the rise around the world or in the United States?
J. Liberty
The heart of her battle boiled down to individualism vs collectivism. LEARN MORE about it in this pillar, yet simple, post I give you the basic of the economics, politics, and family dynamics of each.
References:
Kiger, P. J. (2019, April 16). How Joseph Stalin Starved Millions in the Ukrainian Famine. Retrieved from History.
Naumenko, N. (2021). The Political Economy of Famine: The Ukrainian Famine of 1933. The Journal of Economic History, 81(1), 156-197.
Rand, A., & Branden, N. (1961). The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism. New York: A Signet Book.
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