Virtuous Living (11 of 13): Independence
by Joseph Rowlands
The next virtue is Independence. Rand said it is "the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it- that no substitute can do your thinking"
The moral principle here is that your life is your own, and you're the only one that can live it. It means that you need to act directly, and not attempt to get or let other people do your living for you. It's the recognition that life is purposeful action, but it needs to be your purpose and your action, or it's not really living.
The value aimed at here is the value of living your life. Nobody can provide you with this value. Their interference can only prevent you from achieving this value.
So what does the Passive form of this virtue say? First, it says you should never let others do your thinking for you. You should not accept ideas from them that are incompatible with what you know. Neither should you accept information from them that they have no ability to know. You shouldn't allow them to choose your values for you, and you should never accept their judgment above your own.
Independence is also seen in the material world. Financial independence means providing the material wealth that you need in order to live. You should not allow someone else to provide you with the means of survival. You should earn your values, never taking the unearned from others. You can trade value for value, but you cannot allow someone else to do your living for you.
The Active form of Independence includes all this, but more. It tells you that you should attempt to gain the ability to be more independent in your thinking. This means understanding more about the world, and having more information, so you need to rely on others less. It means improving your ability to think and reason. It means learning enough to know how to double-check information, and when it's okay to accept information from others. It means understanding philosophy and ethics, in order to come to your own conclusions about which values to pursue, and what is good and bad for your life.
It can also mean acquiring financial independence, as well as securing it. It means not only getting a job that provides you with the ability to live, but saving enough money to cover emergency situations. It means growing your employment opportunities.
Independence also means looking to yourself when you want something. It means becoming used to the idea that you are your own provider of values. It means learning to rely on your own judgment as your primary means of gaining knowledge, and putting other people in their place as secondary options.
So you should figure out what part of your life is overly dependent on other people, and change it. Fill out your own tax forms. Learn to do your own laundry. Learn enough about your car to understand what the mechanic is talking about. Read the voting pamphlet and figure out what you're voting on. Figure out how to find information on your own by going to a library or searching the web. And make a habit of looking it up for yourself.
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