Councils of Control
Street sweepers like trash collectors are recognized as some of the lowest levels of work a person could pick. By being a street sweeper, one does the same routine activity every day, eliminating the opportunity for the mind to wonder. Society today labels trash collectors and other careers such as this as being career choices that people who have no where to go or have limited education would choose. In society today, these jobs pay well, but the brain is not stretched intellectually, thus creating a void of professionalism and respect in the community. Few would choose these jobs; usually they are jobs that one chooses as a last resort. In the society created by Ayn Rand in her novella, Anthem, Equality, the protagonist, becomes a street sweeper because the Council of Vocations deems him “Street Sweeper,” as …show more content…
If not error or incompetence, what was the motive of the Council? The council needed to control the thoughts of Equality. This is not isolated to just fiction as written before, North Korea controls and suppresses its citizens to bend where they want. They do this to prevent uprising and to create submission by fear tactics. In The Home of the Street Sweepers daily activity described by Equality is “when the bell rings, we all arise from our beds… The shadow on the sundial marks off a half-hour while we dress and eat our breakfast in the dining hall, … Then we go to work in the streets of the city, … In five hours, when the sun in high we return to the home and we eat our midday meal, for which one-half hour is allowed. Then we go to work again. In five hours, … We come back to have our dinner, which lasts one hour” (Rand, 27). Because the day of a street sweeper consisted of mindless activity there was no use for critical thinking or imagination. This strategic plan brought up by the Council of Vocations proves that error and incompetence is out of the
Street sweepers like trash collectors are recognized as some of the lowest levels of work a person could pick. By being a street sweeper, one does the same routine activity every day, eliminating the opportunity for the mind to wonder. Society today labels trash collectors and other careers such as this as being career choices that people who have no where to go or have limited education would choose. In society today, these jobs pay well, but the brain is not stretched intellectually, thus creating a void of professionalism and respect in the community. Few would choose these jobs; usually they are jobs that one chooses as a last resort. In the society created by Ayn Rand in her novella, Anthem, Equality, the protagonist, becomes a street sweeper because the Council of Vocations deems him “Street Sweeper,” as …show more content…
If not error or incompetence, what was the motive of the Council? The council needed to control the thoughts of Equality. This is not isolated to just fiction as written before, North Korea controls and suppresses its citizens to bend where they want. They do this to prevent uprising and to create submission by fear tactics. In The Home of the Street Sweepers daily activity described by Equality is “when the bell rings, we all arise from our beds… The shadow on the sundial marks off a half-hour while we dress and eat our breakfast in the dining hall, … Then we go to work in the streets of the city, … In five hours, when the sun in high we return to the home and we eat our midday meal, for which one-half hour is allowed. Then we go to work again. In five hours, … We come back to have our dinner, which lasts one hour” (Rand, 27). Because the day of a street sweeper consisted of mindless activity there was no use for critical thinking or imagination. This strategic plan brought up by the Council of Vocations proves that error and incompetence is out of the