Collectivism, the rejection of personal desires for the common good of the whole, is a contradictory philosophy, as it punishes those who adhere to its doctrine, while simultaneously rewarding those who do so. 'exploit. In Ayn Rand's We the Living, collectivism, like any other political ideology, has positive and negative applications, and whether it is used as a mechanism of justice or terror, the pendulum of its consequences swings both ways. In its purest form, collectivism would theoretically arise from the mass cooperation of a group for the benefit of that group; resting in the selfless hands of group members and operating on honesty, integrity and moral uprightness. In reality, as Ayn Rand's novel shows, collectivism is the suppression of independent thought in the name of an assembly to which one is obliged to swear loyalty and, furthermore, results in the rationalization of tyranny for the sake of “common good”. The push for supremacy overwhelms any philanthropy those in power might have, resulting in despair for those at their mercy. Persistent throughout Soviet Russia, “vertical collectivism” occurs when hierarchy defines an individual's rank and submission to authority comes at the expense of self. -sacrifice. “Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Millions of what? Stomachs, heads, legs, tongues and souls. And it doesn't matter if they fit together. Just millions. Just flesh. Human flesh” (Rand 403). In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the price of “self-sacrifice” was individuality – the determining factors that allowed a human being to be unique, different from others. "There are things in men", asserts Andrei Taganov in front of his Party, "in the best of us, which are above... middle of paper...... assumed by an obligation moral or political sacrifice of one's own interests in the name of a greater social good, uses the same "common good" as the tyrant. Both justify and execute, in good conscience, horrors that would never be considered their own. themselves, but who are more than worthy for the cause of the masses. Collectivism, in its raw and implemented form, results not only in mass illusion, but also in the deconstruction of society by the corrupt individuals in power. , describing their goals as those of the masses. In reality, the masses suffer, while the authorities exist in a state of voluntary gluttony, an apparition that resembles progress, but which actually symbolizes the murder of progress. of these men, Ayn Rand provides a basis for how collectivism, even masked under the guise of justice, only results in the death of humanity..