"At first, man was enslaved by the gods. But he broke their chains. Then he was enslaved by the kings. But he broke their chains. He was enslaved by his birth, by his kin, by his race. But he broke their chains.
He declared to all his brothers that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor other men can take away from him, no matter what their number, for his is the right of man, and there is no right on earth above this right. And he stood on the threshold of freedom for which the blood of the centuries behind him had been spilled.
But then he gave up all he had won, and fell lower than his savage beginning.
What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What whip lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word 'We.'
When men accepted that worship, the structure of centuries collapsed about them, the structure whose every beam had come from the thought of some one man, each in his day down the ages, from the depth of some one spirit, such as spirit existed but for its own sake."
From Anthem by Ayn Rand
(emphasis mine)
I don't know what prompted this story but lately when I've posted negative comments about Obamacare being socialism on my local newspaper's comments section I've been attacked for my ME, ME, ME and not a WE, WE, WE attitude. My response is that the recipients of socialism have a "ME, ME, ME" attitude. To take from one who has earned for the purpose of "spreading the wealth" is legal theft. My best is "we, we, we are the Borg. We will assimilate you. Resistance is futile."
Posted by: Kenneth E. Pope on September 1, 2009 04:45 PM
I've been attacked for my ME, ME, ME and not a WE, WE, WE attitude.
People who attack you for your "ME, ME, ME" attitude obviously have not read the Declaration of Independence - or don't agree with it - wherein it states:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The Declaration of Independence was not just a declaration of the independence of the colonies from Britain, but a declaration of the individual's rights and independence.
The "WE" cannot take the rights of the "I" or "ME". Anyone who says otherwise is not an American.
That is what Rand was addressing in the quote above, that the "worship of the word 'We.'" is what will destroy our independence, our right to pursue knowledge and invent for our own enjoyment and our individual selves, all for The Collective.
Posted by: Digger on September 2, 2009 01:11 AM
