Being John Galt in 2022
Never be forced to live your life for the sake of another man, nor seek to force him to live for the sake of yours.
I wanted to share a couple of quotes I keep taped to the frame of the monitor on my desk. The first is from Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac and it reads:
"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing."
This serves as a constant reminder to live a meaningful life, to be someone who matters to other people in this world and the next. It could just mean being a good dad, a loyal husband, a good and constant friend, whatever it means to you within your life’s context, be worthy of being remembered.
The second is the Galt Pledge from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and here it is in the context of the book:
“The door of the structure was a straight, smooth sheet of stainless steel, softly lustrous and bluish in the sun. Above it, cut in the granite, as the only feature of the building's rectangular austerity, there stood an inscription:
‘I SWEAR BY MY LIFE AND MY LOVE OF IT THAT I WILL NEVER LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER MAN, NOR ASK ANOTHER MAN TO LIVE FOR MINE.’”
Critics of Rand explain this quote away as being the epitome of selfishness but to reduce this powerful statement to a simple sentiment about selfishness is a mistake. When Rand’s idea that “the individual is the smallest minority” is considered is considered in conjunction with Galt’s expression of individualism, my reading of it goes this way:
“I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never BE FORCED live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to BE FORCED live for mine.”
When you read “Atlas”, you understand it isn’t about selfishness, it is about the individual fighting the collective for his freedom and how powerful the state can become when people willing to exchange their freedoms for power self-aggregate into groups.
When that aggregation occurs, their motive force is the attempt to increase their status and expand what the state allows them to do by stealing the freedom of others. Freedom for the collectivist is not defined by increasing the liberty of the individual, rather it is how much individual liberty they can eliminate.
I keep these two quotes in front of me as a daily reminder that my duty to live a meaningful life is largely based on a quest against the generational erosion of individual freedom and liberty that always is brought about through collectivism. Always.
And that is not my opinion, not a conspiracy theory, that is simple organizational dynamics and history.
Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, joining any group requires ceding some of your freedom to the goals and objectives of that group. You are going to give your time, your efforts or money on behalf of those goals.
Collectivism means the surrender of the individual power of choice.
Collectivism, including the sub-variants of socialism, Marxism and communism, promises to improve the lives of all in the collective – but when you think about that, this rationale is counter-intuitive because the method it uses to accomplish this “improvement” is to restrict, limit or co-opt the true productivity of one person for the benefit of the other. While this may well be an improvement for the latter, it certainly isn’t for the former.
There actually are two types of collectivism, elective and coercive. Elective is the “good” kind of collectivism, as when a community or a church comes together to accomplish a goal for the good of the collective. It is voluntary and the individual’s association with the group is driven by his desire and duty to be part of the activity. His productive efforts are shared freely, and no one cares if one is able to contribute more or his efforts are more valuable to the attainment of the goal.
Coercive is the “bad” kind where some arbitrary authority assigns you a station or task and you have no input in the decision or ability to opt out. This association is involuntary and the individual’s association with the group is driven by the demands of the collective that he be part of the activity. His productive efforts are coerced, and his contribution and his efforts are treated as if they are no more valuable to the attainment of the goal than those of his fellow collective members – even if they are.
The difference between the two is choice and the effect that choice has on the individual.
Voluntarily joining a collective is a matter of individual choice based on the selflessness and charity of the person. Giving of your time, skills and/or money makes the individual a better person; it demonstrates selflessness and builds character. It feeds the soul of the individual that they can do good things to help their fellow man.
Being coerced into a collective is a choice made by the collective based on the usefulness of the person. It removes the possibility of choice and makes the individual a worse person; it demonstrates no need for selflessness and charity, only obedience. It removes the feeling of individual worth and destroys the soul of the individual because no matter what they do, the authority is going to control it.
I think the term “collectivism” is overused. I don’t think it evokes the proper amount of terror that should be associated with any form of coercive collectivism because elective collectivism has such a soft edge to it.
Never being forced to live your life for the sake of another man, nor demanding another man be forced to live for yours is a righteous goal in life.
You will be worthy of remembrance.
Why not "association" or "free association" for elective collectivism? "Collectivism", even with the modifier, carries too much with it. "elective" might describe how one got into the collective, but "collectivism" still describes the situation of being there, including the implications of compulsion and lack of choice.
Love this! Reminds me of how my brother & I were brought up. My brother was two years younger, and my mom used to look one of us in the eye and say...”You are responsible for you.” Then she’d look the other in the eye and say “You are responsible for you.” Then she’d look at both of us simultaneously & say “Understand?” She held our gaze until we answered. 😉