2020 America or 1920’s Russia?

The Benevolent Universe Premise is the conviction that ideas matter, the nature of man is noble, and justice is possible. The Malevolent Universe Premise holds that crisis is the norm, man is helpless or evil, and life means warding off danger.

The former is the hallmark of the Age of Enlightenment and is enshrined in America’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The latter describes the Dark Ages and the dominant philosophy of feudal Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution.

While the 19th century’s self-creation was morally superior, its capitalism was socially and economically superior, and its Romantic art was ethically superior, the 19th century’s dominant philosophy paved the way for Stalin’s Great Terror. It is also the foundation of the Progressive takeover of 2020 America’s education and media institutions.

Who is Kira Argounova?

Kira is the heroine of We the Living. She is the individual in a fight for survival against the collective – Man vs. Men. So, what are the virtues that define Kira’s sense of life?

  • Reality

    Kira’s morality was rooted in nature. Respect for life on earth was her means of survival.

  • Reason

    She rejected religion’s mystics of the mind and society’s mystics of muscle.

  • Independence

    Kira was responsible for her own judgment and lived by the work of her own mind.

  • Determination

    She identified what she wanted most and worked relentlessly to achieve her values.

  • Justice

    Because people are the greatest obstacle to acting on her own judgment, Kira defended rights.

  • Serenity

    Faced with the overwhelming injustice of an immoral society, Kira became calm and focused.

  • Romance

    Love is the emotional response for another’s character, and only possible with self-esteem.

  • Reverence

    Kira’s life, happiness, and self-esteem were not only her highest values, but her moral duty.

Ready To Dig Deep?

Check out these original Center for Individualism articles that belong to our original series, Reliving We The Living:

Will Gen Z Make America Socialist?

There is a growing resentment of anything considered “capitalist.” Capitalism is a dirty word these days. Based on an analysis of the coming generation of youth voters, America could be at the start of a shift in public policy. It looks like younger generations could favor policies more common in socialist countries, setting the stage for the start of the new decade.

Say’s Law Of Markets Writes The Code Of Moral Justice For We The Living.

The death premise of Marxism - life is chaos and people are impotent. They demand submission to the collective. Last week in 2020 America, you were exposed to their chaos in Kenosha WI and Portland OR, and the impotence of police departments who were ordered to stand down in submission to the cancel culture of today's organized, violent, Marxist mobs.

Reliving We the Living Teaches Living Is Not the Avoidance of Death.

The first banner read: Comrades! We Are the Builders of a New Life! The other banner read: Lice Spread Disease! Citizens, Unite on the Anti-Typhus Front! The comparative irony Rand presents with these is stunning - to be a comrade is to be lice, citizens are builders where building is forbidden, and life is defined as avoiding death.

To Relive We The Living Is To Choose The Benevolent Universe Premise Of Our Childhood.

Class consciousness is fealty to your political identity group, Communism is the negation of human volition, and the bourgeois exploiters are the manufacturers and merchants who produce every material need and desire for human prosperity. But when a culture's dominant philosophy becomes malevolent, and motivated by envy and fear, force replaces reason and trade is conducted by blood instead of money.

Who is Kira Argounova? There’s No Time Like the Present to Find Out.

Who is Kira Argounova? is an essential question no one has ever asked you, until now. As the lead character in Ayn Rand's 1936 novel We the Living, her story is more relevant than ever. Set in 1920's Soviet Russia, the circumstances of her life and culture are rearing their ugly head a century later in America. To learn more about Kira's life premise and America's degeneration, we have created the We the Living Study Group on Facebook for our readers.
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