Absolute Conformity

Conformity, it’s something everyone deals with, even if they do not realize it. Although, what happens when conformity takes control over everything? What if the world was stripped of individuality, no citizen has any rights to hold on to, while not being able to think for one’s self. That is an image what it would be like if everyone in the world were to conform to a restricting society. Just think of all of the advances in technology the human race has come up with in the last ten years alone. None of that would have been possible in a society where no one can go above another person's IQ level. This is the world the characters in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem live in. The reasons that total conformity is dangerous is because individuality is not possible, no family history, and advancement would not be possible.

Through a veil of lies man obeys the State, the Church, the mass opinions of their peers, or any other organization that they view to be in power. This affords him a false sense of safety and protection. In his obedience, man feels strong allowing him to be controlled by the fear of being isolated or having undesirable repercussions greet him as a result of any disobedience. Throughout history it has been evident that, for the most part, the few in power have ruled over the majority. The foundation of this relationship has been “the few” equating obedience with virtue and disobedience with sin, resulting in man not only needing to obey, but wanting to obey. Man’s inability to see that he has lost his ability to disobey and stand up for what he believes and values, instead of what he has been brainwashed to believe and value, will inevitably ensure the destruction of all civilization at the hand of man. Man’s only saving grace will be his ability to realize

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In this excerpt, we see the Society reinforcing the lie that individualism is sinful and good only comes from collectivism. The council weaves this lie into everyday life. They say this pledge everyday and before they do anything important. By doing this, the council embeds this into everybody’s minds. The council wants everybody to be equal, have no individuality, and keep quiet. This stifles anybody with personality from speaking out and finding out who they are and their identity.

Further in about the society in "Anthem," people are to think that they were born with a mind that is incapable of too much information, like if they were naturally born dumb, and for men like Equality 7-2521, they are to believe that they are born with a curse:"the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: "There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers." But we cannot change our bones nor our body." Not only are they to believe those lies, but they also must obey the laws given to them by the Palace of the World Council in which I believe are pointless. For examples, they are not allowed to write down their thoughts, or think of thoughts their fellow brothers don't think, or to even speak of themselves. As you can see how strict this society is, this is why I believe no-one has ever gone against the leaders, because they were taught to follow all order and rule.

If being all normal and being selfless mean sacrifices of talents and intellectuals, then as a society should we be reaching for normal and selflessness? The book "Anthem" take place in a society where everyone is the same.Life is just what the councilor make it to be. There is no "I" but just "we". In a society where man do not live for himself but live for his brothers the thought of individual is not tolerated. People live their whole life with their brothers on their back. There is no freedom in a world where basic rights are not applied. The significance of these quotes are the discovery of freedom, truth and trust upon one individual.

Human nature allows us to stereotype a situation in less than a minute, this reflex creates a void of knowledge and deep understanding. Stereotypes create a lack of understanding, they deplete the ability to listen and pay attention to all the facts. Tim O’Brien even after serving America for

Mark Twain, although quite the comedian, makes a valid point in “Corn-Pone Opinions”. The observation of humanity and its tendencies to follow what society promotes is a relevant occurrence today. Twain leads on “. . . that it’s born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise . . .” (720). Humans are not equipped to stand their own ground; they prefer to follow the leader. Twain puts it simply, “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (719). Twain clearly makes his point noticeable to his audience, holding back no opinion throughout the

“You make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other. Besides other impediments, it may be remarked that, where there is a consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.”

“We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike”(7). In Equality 7-2521's society, everyone must think and be just like everyone else. The society's commitment to Equality 7-2521 eventually means a confinement to sameness. If the individuals are not like everyone else, the Council Of Vocations threaten them by using brutal punishments for every law that is broken, they also threaten them from possibly being superior to others. It can be argued that it is moral to act in an individual’s own self-interest to find joy. Self-sacrifice is not an obligation. Collectivism states that people should exist for the co-operation for others and that the pursuance of individual happiness is not preachy. The dominance of mankind’s free will and the reason is most evident in the distant marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council, “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). "Dare not choose in your minds the work you would like to do when you leave the Home of the Students. You shall do that which the Council of Vocations shall prescribe for you" (20). Equality 7-2521 is proclaiming about what his teachers told him when he was a student. Evidently, in his society, no one is allowed to think or choose what they want to do with their own lives, or even to think about what they are capable enough of doing in their lives. These were

Don’t be a conformist. Don’t be common. Be an individual. Conformity, although prevalent in society past and present, is never the answer. As individuals, we were made to be unique. Our insight alone is greater than the elementary principles of the crowd. However, if we conform to societal beliefs, as many of the racists did in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Harper Lee), then what are we? Uneducated, crowd-pleasing citizens who won’t form our own values. The inability to form our own values causes everyone to cast the same vote. No one expresses different opinions, every white man downgrades African Americans, every male is “superior” to every female, and every child is of lesser value to adults. So, by being an individual, although one may be yelled

Stereotypes have shaped the way people think about the World and everyone around them. They are undeniably over-exaggerated, but are based on a sliver of truth. For example, stereotypical Americans are seen as rude, stupid, greedy, and very patriotic. In the case of Americans, Donald J. Trump is the embodiment of the American stereotype. During his presidential campaign, Trump made many vulgar remarks, and his goal was to “make America great again.” These American stereotypes are also apparent in Ernest Hemingway’s short stories, most notably in “Cat in the Rain,” “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” and the interchapters of In Our Time. Hemingway’s short stories portray Americans as being insensitive to the World around them. Americans are insensitive through their insatiable greed, emotional unawareness, and cultural disregard.

I Have been for weeks analyzing conformity to Traditions to their rules and found that make as much sense as telling a penguin not to like the cold or eat fish.- Humorous Simile.These traditions were written down as the end of a paper and put up on a high shelf and those who want to use these traditions will have to Jump to that conclusion- Play on word. So i've decided with these studies that I come to the conclusion that full allegiance to conformity of traditions puts humans the lowest on the chain. An example of Full allegiance to conformity of tradition is Alan Keyes kicking out his daughter for being gay at 16 no no that's fine your only forcing someone who is not prepared into the cold,unforgiving world.-Understatement Your pet dogs

Nevertheless, beneath the social contract, the thing people were truly afraid of was the “majority”. People prefer putting themselves into the majority, rather than standing alone. This behavior is called conformity. In "The

Conformity and obedience are some of the factors that usually influence the various processes that determine the manner in which an individual behaves in a social set up. They also have an impact on how people follow and adhere to social norms (both written and unwritten) as well as fashions and their immoral actions (Milgram, 2010). Several aspects come to play when one is asked by another individual to do a particular thing. First, they will need to consider whether whatever they are being asked to do is morally right or wrong. Second, based on the circumstances, they can either obey or comply and better still, they can decline to do it. The term obedience refers to the act of an individual doing something that they have been asked to do. On the other hand, conformity regards to how others influence people. They do things that they were not requested to do. The influence is usually through the behaviors and thoughts of others. This paper will compare and contrast the factors involved in conformity and obedience.