How To Justify Individuality In Ayn Rand's Anthem

Anthem by Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, or one in which a person is required to give up his or her individuality for the good of the whole. The society does a lot to justify their opposition to individuality, but the main reason they do is for the idea of “ the common good”. Equality is taught to refer to himself as “we” to help enforce the idea that he is part of a whole, rather than an individual. From the beginning of the book, we know that Equality is stronger and smarter than many of his peers. So why was he sent to the House of the Street Sweepers? The society is afraid of people who are different, because they may interfere with their idea of a “perfect society”, in which everyone is the same. “And also they were not liked because they took pieces of coal and they drew pictures upon the walls, and they were pictures that made men laugh… so International 4-8818 were sent to the Home of the Street Sweepers, like ourselves. (29-30)” International 4-8818 and Equality were both assigned to the Home of the Street Sweepers because they wouldn’t conform to

societal norms, like Union 5-3992, who has mental problems and convulsions.
They also instill a sense of guilt into their citizens, so that they are more susceptible to believing whatever the society tells them.

The villain in The Fountainhead makes a good point about the nature of humanity: “Make man feel small. Make him feel guilty. Kill his aspiration and his integrity.” This is exactly what the society does to Equality. Equality says, “We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts that are forbidden. (18)” The society not only make laws against any sort of individuality, but they go as far as to say that Equality is “born with a curse”, which implies that he can never be saved, and that his transgressions live within him. Equality also mentions that there is “...fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. (46)”, which further proves that people are afraid of doing something wrong or betraying their

brothers.
I see a lot of parallels to today in the society in Anthem. I’ve seen an increase in nationalism in the past few years. A growing number of people seem to be afraid of the “others.” These people are often willing to give up some of their freedoms to feel safe; to numb a bit of the fear that they constantly feel. One example of this is the Patriot Act. People were willing to give up one of their most basic rights, the right to privacy, in an attempt to make sure that they were “safe.” I don’t think that the role of government is to protect the people, I think it’s to protect the freedoms of the people. The way that collectivist societies start is through fear, and then convincing the citizens that it’s in their best interest to take away their individual freedoms.
Since reading Anthem, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes a society willing to give up its freedoms for the sake of “the common good.” What would it take for a society like ours today to turn to collectivism like in Anthem? Would it take a disaster completely unforeseen, or are we much closer to giving up our freedoms than we thought? How far will people in positions of power go to protect the will of “the common good”?
The society in Anthem does many things to justify collectivism, including saying that taking away people’s freedoms is for the greater good and instilling a sense of fear and guilt into its’ citizens. There are parallels to this in modern life, and my thinking has changed over the course of reading this book.