Letter_to_the_Editior;_Anthem_by_Ayn_Rand

Dear Readers, We grow up and are often influence by what we see around us, or by the people around us. They influence who we are; either good or bad. Sometimes it almost seems like many people don’t think of themselves and are think more about how others view them. Imagine this: a world where people had no options, everything you did was determined by the people around you, a world where there was no “I” and everything you did in life was not by oneself choice but because others made the choice for you. Anthem, a novel by Ayn Rand, addresses this idea of living in a world where people are prohibited to think about themselves individually. Thus there being no “I.” And you are prohibited to think of your own self. This novel may be just science fiction novel, but the idea of thinking for your own self instead of others is real even in our own world. Teens, especially, struggle with this idea of thinking for yourself, hiving the confidence to go against what society, the majority, or what the people around you do. For example, everyone knows smoking, shoplifting, drugs and alcohol are bad; yet, ironically many people participate in this. All of these activities are caused by peer pressure and/ or the failure to act for one self and make rational choices that are not depended on others. As teenagers we are often pressured into doing things we probably wouldn’t do otherwise, in order to look “cool” or because “everybody is doing it.” And thus we don’t think and judge accordingly to our own rational principles. Anthem, a novel by Ayn Rand, should be read by all teenagers, this novel. This novel seemed far from realistic; yet at the same time not so much. We live in world where, luckily, we make our own choices. Who we want to marry, what career field we want to do. We can speak out against our government, what we believe is not right. Let’s not stop doing this, and better enforce this by not letting yourself get pressured into doing something you don’t want to do. Or better yet don’t do something just because “everyone doing it”—because there not. Value the “I” in your life and be yourself.