Collectivism in Literature

I finished reading Anthem, by Ayn Rand yesterday. It’s only 100 pages and I started it about a week ago so it really shouldn’t have taken me this long. However, there were mitigating circumstances (i.e. I left it in my car repeatedly.) This was the first bit of literature by Rand that I’ve read and it has me feeling good about tackling Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead.

I will say that I thought it was an excellent book. The premise was intriguing and it’s my opinion that the length was just right. The style was unique and fit the book perfectly -the protagonist replaces the word “I” with “we” througout most of the novella. However, once I was finished reading, it reminded me (at least partially) of other books and stories I’ve read that tackle similar issues.

According to Wikipedia, collectivism can be summarized as follows:

Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals. Collectivists focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group goals over individual goals.

This fundamental concept fuels several political leanings, most famous of which are Socialism and Communism. The basic political idea of collectivism is that of a Commons. The premise of a commons is as follows:

1. Human society is organized by way of an implicit contract between members of a society
2. The commons is any resource shared by a group of people (or society as a whole)
3. Each member will contribute to the commons
4. Costs and profits are shared equally among members

This, obviously, inspired political parties and proponents of egalitarianism. This philosophy also inspired much criticism. The following is a list of books I have read over the years that argue against collectivism for many of the same reasons. These reasons are first noted as follows:

1. Groups benefit more from getting more resources from a common organizational resource pool, but overload the common resource
2. Collectivism stifles individuality and diversity by insisting upon a common social identity
3. Collectivism is linked to the diminution of freedom when political authority is used to advance collectivist goals
4. Genetic differences within the population justify the view that some people are naturally superior to others in some important way (taken more from Egalitarianism)

Books:

1984 by George Orwell

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Short Stories or Essays:

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

The Tragedy of the Commons by Garret Hardin

**It is worthwhile to note that Anthem is no longer under copyright in the United States.

***It is also worthwhile to note that the book list is in alphabetical order by both last name and title. Whoa.