Anthem

Anthem is another of Ayn Rand’s works. One of her early works, in fact. Read it today in no time, in e-book form. That’s something that would have made her furious, had she been alive. She was unable to get past the notion that words are property.

I don’t believe in IP, as you may have guessed by now. It’s one of the three major flaws in Ayn Rand’s philosophy, the others being her position on anarchy and her abdication of her principle of consistency in answering how governments can exist and be financed in a free society.  

That apart, Anthem was a wonderful read. If Atlas Shrugged is awesome, Anthem is beyond awesome. Nowhere else, in my entire reading, have I come across a greater defense of ego and “I” than in Anthem. It transported me into a different world, as a good work of fiction should. Contemplating the philosophy in that book, I realized that I have a confession to make.

It has been gnawing me for quite a while, ever since I started to think, to reason. Throughout schooling, I have been taught to think in terms of “we” instead of “I”.

“We want to play.”

“We would like it if you could explain this concept again.”

“We wish you all the best.”

It was the same even in college.

Very recently, someone phrased a question to a professor inside the classroom the same way.

“We would like to know if...”

So many times, I’ve been subjected to this “we”.

“We feel that...”

“We would like you to...”

Numerous times I’ve been frustrated with this word, and felt disgusted with myself for thinking, and sometimes, inadvertently, talking in such terms.

Now I know its origins, the evil behind it, and what it seeks to do. Words have meaning; they have the power to help one in reasoning, in conceptualization. Destruction of words can destroy one’s ability to understand the concept represented by that word. I don’t want to engage in concept destruction by having a faulty vocabulary. And that is why it matters whether one has a good command of the language or not. It shows the power of that person’s reasoning mind. The surest way to destroy a mind is through the destruction of concepts, of words that embody that concept. 1984, a novel by George Orwell, is supposedly on that.

The more I read, the more knowledge I gain, the more my eyes open, the better I understand reality. The more I write, the better the sinking in of the concepts I’ve grasped, the better my articulation of what I’ve understood. It is to this end that I write, it is that end which this blog, as an outlet for my writings, serves.

Atlas Shrugged

Man as a trader, exchanging value for value; living for the sake of one’s own happiness; selfishness as the highest moral virtue; never seek or grant the unearned; never live for the sake of another man nor ask another man to live for the sake of yours; judge; discriminate; hold reason above all else; never compromise on principles; hold reality as the ultimate arbiter; if you arrive at a contradiction, check your premises; to earn profits is virtuous – these, and more, philosophical statements are the essence of Atlas Shrugged, a novel expounding the moral code of a man. 

I started reading Atlas Shrugged sometime in mid-July, and completed it about 2 weeks ago. I’m no neophyte to Ayn Rand’s philosophy- I’ve read Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal and The Virtue of Selfishness- but, this book really opened my eyes, changed my perception of myself and gave me the ammunition to re-form my moral code without the contradictions it was earlier riddled with. I’ll elaborate, but first, something about the book. 

I can very well understand why it has been called Ayn Rand’s masterpiece. It is a great work of art, a brilliant philosophical treatise, and all that, but more than that, for me, the book was a learning experience unsurpassed by any learning I’ve had prior to it in my life, except, perhaps, from Ragnarok Online. Or rather, it integrated all my previous learning, blasted apart the contradictions in my thinking and helped me understand morality, and how to be moral in a way nothing else has. The way Ayn Rand has understood the common contradictions in our thinking, and the masterful way in which she has addressed them in order to make us aware of our faults- that is the significance of this work to me. 

Face reality. Nobody lives in this valley by faking reality, says John Galt to Dagny Taggart. If I face reality, I’ll have to admit to the philosophical contradictions present in my thinking and demonstrated in my actions. 

I’ve faked reality quite often, when reality was hard to accept. I’ve turned a Nelson’s eye where I should have judged, discriminated, and acted according to my moral values. Now I consciously try to avoid faking reality; I face reality especially where it is hardest to face, because I know it to be right. 

Never grant the unearned. I’ve always balked at asking for the unearned, demanding from others that which I had no claim to, but I’ve never had a problem in granting the unearned, giving others that which they had no claim to, out of a spirit of generosity/altruism. There existed a contradiction in my thinking. How is it right to grant the unearned when it is not right to ask for it? I abdicated my responsibility to answer that question. Now, faced with it, I can answer: it is not right. Never grant, nor ask for, the unearned. 

After answering that question, I found that I was also guilty of asking for the unearned! Facing reality, I am now correcting myself. 

Live life as a trader, exchanging value for value. It’s pretty obvious, at least in matters related to money. It’s not so obvious when it comes to other exchanges between individuals. If an exchange is voluntary, what lies at its root? Reverse valuation. Each individual values that which he receives over that which he gives. Each individual has to offer value to the other in order to gain value from the other. 

There’s a lot of value I’d like to gain from quite a few people, but I have nothing to offer them in return. My need is not a claim on their value. The moral thing to do would be to bring myself up to a position where I can offer them value, thus gaining what I want and making both of us better off. And where I really can’t offer anything of value, I’ll have to sigh and face reality- there’s some value I can’t gain due to the inadequacy of my offering. 

Facing reality on this is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Is there an alternative? Not if I want to live as a man, with a moral code that doesn’t have contradictions. I do.