The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance
Collin Kennedy
The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance
My first exposure to the high-flown pap of Benjamin Anastas’s “The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance” came in a quiet library at the private institution where I had enrolled to learn the secrets of education and because I wanted, at the age of 21, to fulfill my philosophy core and graduate on time. Cute openings aside, Mr. Anastas has a significant amount of gall calling his private school teacher Mr. Sideways when it seems, to me, that he is the one with the skewed vision. As I read through his essay the first time, I found myself growing discontented and distant from the author. As I read through it a second time, I began to grow increasingly frustrated and outraged at how Anastas twisted Emerson’s words to fit his purpose and distorted Emerson’s central message to make it appear self-centered and egotistical. Anastas refers to Emerson’s doctrine as a “spell” that countless others have fell under throughout the past and present. I would like to remind Mr. Anastas that many of those “countless others” that were influenced by Emerson’s “spell”, as he puts it, are people that went on to shape American culture as we know it. Is self-reliance not what this country was built on? Did we not break away from the English Monarchy because we were tired of following, tired of not taking action in our own beliefs? From what I remember each of the colonies were founded because an individual decided to strike out on what they believed in. While my outrage at Anastas is clearly evident, I find it ironic that Emerson would argue that Anastas is in fact doing what the “Self-Reliance” preaches – voicing one’s own ideas and thoughts instead of accepting what those before have said. By striking out against Emerson (an author who many have followed over the years), Anastas is in fact qualifying that which he is against. In this essay I will attempt to refute Benjamin’s criticisms by justifying Emerson’s main themes of “Self-Reliance”. While I
The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance
My first exposure to the high-flown pap of Benjamin Anastas’s “The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance” came in a quiet library at the private institution where I had enrolled to learn the secrets of education and because I wanted, at the age of 21, to fulfill my philosophy core and graduate on time. Cute openings aside, Mr. Anastas has a significant amount of gall calling his private school teacher Mr. Sideways when it seems, to me, that he is the one with the skewed vision. As I read through his essay the first time, I found myself growing discontented and distant from the author. As I read through it a second time, I began to grow increasingly frustrated and outraged at how Anastas twisted Emerson’s words to fit his purpose and distorted Emerson’s central message to make it appear self-centered and egotistical. Anastas refers to Emerson’s doctrine as a “spell” that countless others have fell under throughout the past and present. I would like to remind Mr. Anastas that many of those “countless others” that were influenced by Emerson’s “spell”, as he puts it, are people that went on to shape American culture as we know it. Is self-reliance not what this country was built on? Did we not break away from the English Monarchy because we were tired of following, tired of not taking action in our own beliefs? From what I remember each of the colonies were founded because an individual decided to strike out on what they believed in. While my outrage at Anastas is clearly evident, I find it ironic that Emerson would argue that Anastas is in fact doing what the “Self-Reliance” preaches – voicing one’s own ideas and thoughts instead of accepting what those before have said. By striking out against Emerson (an author who many have followed over the years), Anastas is in fact qualifying that which he is against. In this essay I will attempt to refute Benjamin’s criticisms by justifying Emerson’s main themes of “Self-Reliance”. While I
Bibliography: 1) Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Selected Essays, Lectures, And Poems. New York: Bantam Classics, 1990. Print. 2) Benjamin, Anastas. "The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance."New York Times 2 12 2011, n. pag. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.