Collectivism, the rejection of personal desires for the community good of the whole, is a contradictory philosophy, punishing those who adhere to its doctrine, while at the same time rewarding those who exploit it. 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 in both directions. In its purest form, collectivism would theoretically arise from the mass cooperation of a group for the benefit of that group; it rests in the altruistic hands of group members and is based on honesty, integrity and moral rectitude. In reality, as depicted in Ayn Rand's novel, collectivism is the suppression of independent thought in the name of an assembly to which one is forced to pledge allegiance and, furthermore, results in the rationalization of tyranny for the "common good." The pull of supremacy overwhelms any philanthropy those in power might potentially have, driving those at their mercy to desperation. Emphasized throughout Soviet Russia, "vertical collectivism" occurs when hierarchy defines one's rank and submission to authority comes at the expense of one's self. -sacrifice. “Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Millions of what? Stomachs, heads, legs, tongues and souls. And it doesn't even matter if they are together. Only millions. Only meat. Human flesh” (Rand 403). In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the cost of “self-sacrifice” was one's individuality, the determining factors that allowed a human being to be unique, different from others. “There are things in men,” argues Andrei Taganov to his party, “in the best among us, who are above… middle of the paper… bound by moral or political obligation to sacrifice their own interests in the name of a greater social good, he uses the same "common good" as the tyrant. Both justify and carry out, with a clear conscience, horrors that would never be considered for their own good, but which are more than worthy for the cause of the masses. Collectivism, in its crude and implemented form, results not only in mass delusion, but in the deconstruction of society by the tainted individuals in power who portray their goals as those of the masses. In reality, the masses suffer, while the authorities live in a state of self-induced gluttony; an apparition that resembles progress, but actually symbolizes the murder of progress. By following the stories of these men, Ayn Rand provides a basis for how collectivism, even when masked by the mask of justice, results in nothing other than the death of humanity..