Ayn Rand will forever occupy a special place in 20th century history. Her philosophy is valuable but arduous, her literature is edifying but long-winded, and her essays are penetrating but pompous. Perhaps, if you have achieved as much as Ms. Rand has, your work is inevitably shot through with virtues and vices. What cannot be questioned, though, is the intellectual ferocity with which she attacked what she believed to be against the liberty of man. And to that end, Anthem is a powerful and concise statement.
Coming in at around a hundred pages, Anthem concerns a nameless man and a nameless woman whose love drives them to transgress the laws of their future, totalitarian society. The society itself is utilitarianism run completely amok, to the extent that those born into the society are assigned jobs by the state based on their perceived aptitudes. And as individualism has more or less been surrendered to this state, the need for names has been done away with. Everyone is completely equal, therefore, no one need be named. Everyone has a job to do, they will do it well, they will be rewarded. Rinse, lather, repeat... This is all they know until this lovestruck couple venture out of the narrow confines of their world to be together and, in doing so, realize that their society is not at all the all-knowing authority they thought it to be.
Ms. Rand savages the notion of a planned economy with this short story which is all the more potent for its brevity. Though she's clearly taken liberties with Communism which has never asked its adherents to relinquish their own names, she has pointed out the gravest flaw with centralized planning, socially and economically. The moment that the State is given a stake in the welfare of the people, it suddenly has a vested interest in managing that welfare. And if it is in the business of managing welfare, then isn't it logical for the State to promote certain practices which it considers beneficial to its subjects? And can it not, conversely, punish those same subjects for harmful and selfish behavior which deprives the general public of the individual's best efforts? Ms. Rand demands that Communism answer to its endgame. Where does centralized planning end? Where does the sacrifice of personal liberties end? And it's a question that the Welfare State will be struggling with for decades to come. For it seems to me that Ms. Rand's brand of personal liberty is as anti-societal as the Welfare State's is anti-libertarian. The answer must be located somewhere in the gray middle.
This is a wonderful story infused with serious, intellectual force. (5/5 Stars)
No comments:
Post a Comment