Monday, February 05, 2007
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Anthem is a short story which condemns groupism and glorifies individualism. The story is prophetic, it tells what kind of backward and unhappy place this world would become if everybody stopped living for self and started living for others. So the message is to stop thinking 'We' and start thinking 'I'. I agree that 'I' is the key to happy and fulfilling life. Every individual is responsible for his happiness. Only if an individual is happy would he make the people around him happy.
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6 comments:
Hmm ...is life so simplistic? ....do you want to say that the 'I' more useful in a general sort of way?...are are there certain instances that it is better ...who decides that ?...where does altruism fit into this ...and fairness??...its a good explanation of capitalism ( of which I am a proponent) but i guess the larger picture for us is still humanity ...how well does your 'I' describe that ...not a criticism or sarcasm .....just think a little through of hw your life would change if EVERYBODY became an 'I'
all good questions... each one is a discussion topic in itself. i'll try answer them in general at a high level.
capitalism (I) and communism (WE) are the two extremes. i believe the key is to strike a balance between the two. thinking 'I' means taking responsibilty for your life and your happiness - this is liberating and also scary... scary because it forces you to think for yourself, use reason, make your own decisions, take responsibility for the outcome of your decisions/ actions... liberating because you are free to dream and make those dreams come true... I agree that this freedom can be misused as we see it happening all around us... that's why you have governments and judiciary to protect individual's rights.
the solution is not replacing I with WE the way communism did... doing that kills the motivation to survive, work hard, innovate, because it counters fundamental rights of a man as rightly described in US declaration of independence as 'right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness'... thats why i believe communism failed...
i think world would be a better place if all people started thinking for themselves coz then they'd not let themselves be misled and exploited
Hi Saniye!! Arnab...do you remember him.
I remember the Arnab i met on my Egypt trip.
I would say "'I' and then 'We'"
I agree
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