Anthem by Ayn Rand Terms and Notes

Imagine yourself in a future where individuality has been eliminated. Every human being exists only to serve the greater collective of mankind: the "great WE." You have no say over how you live, who you spend time with, what you study, or what job you get. You can't smile or laugh without reason. Every hour of the day is scheduled, managed, and policed by society. You're never allowed to be alone. And you're never, ever allowed to use the word "I," which means that you're always stuck using the royal "we."

Yes, this is the world you'll find yourself in if you read Anthem. Does it sound like a nightmare? It's meant to be. But the frightening thing is that, according to Ayn Rand, we're getting closer to that world every day. Intrigued? Excited? Concerned? All of the above? Then check out Anthem, and find out why Ayn Rand remains one of the most controversial authors read today.Ayn Rand

Vocabulary

Collectivism: A political or economic theory advocating collective control, especially over production and distribution. An emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity Individualism: A theory maintaining the political and economic independence of the individual and stressing individual initiative, action, and interests. A belief that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount.

Altruism: unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others Egoism: A belief that individual self- interest is the actual motive of all action. A belief that individual self-interest is the valid end of all actions. Excessive concern for oneself with or without exaggerated feelings of self-importance. Conformity: Correspondence in form, manner, or character. Action in accordance with some specified standard or authority.

Dystopia: An imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. (opposite of utopia) Totalitarian: Centralized control by a tyrannical leader or hierarchy: authoritarian, dictatorial; despotic. A political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism).

Philosophy: Pursuit of wisdom. The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. The most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group.

Objective: not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts: Contrasted with subjective. subjective Subjective: based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions: Contrasted with objective.objective Objectivism: Various theories asserting the validity of objective phenomena over subjective experience.

How do you pronounce “Ayn”? “Ayn” rhymes with “mine.” Excerpted from a letter to a fan, 1937: “Your letter inquiring about the origin of my name has been forwarded to me. In answer to your question, I must say that ‘Ayn’ is both a real name and an invention. The original of it is a Finnish feminine name.... Its pronunciation, spelled phonetically, would be: ‘I-na.’ I do not know what its correct spelling should be in English, but I chose to make it ‘Ayn,’ eliminating the final ‘a.’ I pronounce it as the letter ‘I’ with an ‘n’ added to it.” Letters of Ayn Rand, page 40 Letters of Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 2, At age six she taught herself to read and two years later discovered her first fictional hero in a French magazine for children, thus capturing the heroic vision which sustained her throughout her life. At the age of nine, she decided to make fiction writing her career.

Other details… Thoroughly opposed to the mysticism and collectivism of Russian culture. During her high school years, she was eyewitness to both the Kerensky Revolution, which she supported, and the Bolshevik Revolution, which she denounced. The final Communist victory brought the confiscation of her father's pharmacy and periods of near-starvation. In order to escape the fighting, her family went to the Crimea, where she finished high school When introduced to American history in her last year of high school, she immediately took America as her model of what a nation of free men could be.

Studied philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd. Graduating in 1924, she experienced “the disintegration of free inquiry and the takeover of the university by communist thugs.” In late 1925 she obtained permission to leave Soviet Russia for a visit to relatives in the United States. Although she told Soviet authorities that her visit would be short, she was determined never to return to Russia. She arrived in New York City in February She spent the next six months with her relatives in Chicago, obtained an extension to her visa, and then left for Hollywood to pursue a career as a screenwriter. On Ayn Rand’s second day in Hollywood, Cecil B. DeMille saw her standing at the gate of his studio, offered her a ride to the set of his movie The King of Kings, and gave her a job, first as an extra, then as a script reader. During the next week at the studio, she met an actor, Frank O’Connor, whom she married in 1929; they were married until his death fifty years later

Worked in several non-writing jobs in Hollywood for several years. Her first novel, We the Living, was completed in 1934 but was rejected by numerous publishers. The Macmillan Company in the United States and Cassells and Company in England published the book in The most autobiographical of her novels, it was based on her years under Soviet tyranny. She began writing The Fountainhead in 1935, taking a short break in 1937 to write the anti-collectivist novella Anthem. The Fountainhead was rejected by twelve publishers but finally accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company. When published in 1943, it made history by becoming a best- seller through word of mouth two years later, and gained for its author lasting recognition as a champion of individualism. Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was her greatest achievement and last work of fiction.

Thereafter, Ayn Rand wrote and lectured on her philosophy, Objectivism, which she characterized as “a philosophy for living on earth." She published and edited her own periodicals from 1962 to 1976, her essays providing much of the material for six books on Objectivism and its application to the culture. Ayn Rand died on March 6, 1982, in her New York City apartment. Every book by Ayn Rand published in her lifetime is still in print, and hundreds of thousands of copies are sold each year, so far totaling more than 25 million. Several new volumes have been published posthumously. Her vision of man and her philosophy for living on earth have changed the lives of thousands of readers and launched a philosophic movement with a growing impact on American culture.

The Philosophy of Objectivism Rand described Objectivism as “a philosophy for living on earth.” The reason why it is a philosophy for living on Earth is that its every principle is derived from the observable facts of reality the requirements of human life and happiness. Morally, Objectivism advocates the virtues of rational self- interest—virtues such as independent thinking, productiveness, justice, honesty, and self-responsibility. Culturally, Objectivism advocates scientific advancement, industrial progress, objective (as opposed to “progressive” or faith-based) education, romantic art—and, above all, reverence for the faculty that makes all such values possible: reason. Politically, Objectivism advocates pure, laissez-faire capitalism—the social system of individual rights and strictly limited government—along with the whole moral and philosophical structure on which it depends.

Principles of Objectivism The Philosophy of Objectivism is based on 4 main principles: Objective reality Reason Self-interest Capitalism

1. Objective Reality “Wishing won’t make it so.” Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears. Your beliefs do not change what is reality.

2. Reason “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too” Reason is man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival. This means: choose to face the facts at all times, in all areas, whether at work or at home, in business or in love — and no matter what conclusion logically ensues, whether pleasant or unpleasant.

3. Self-interest “Man is an end in himself.” Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.

4. Capitalism “Give me liberty or give me death.” The ideal political-economic system is capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

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