Will To Survive Vs. Will To Matter

In their 1980s hit “The Eye Of The Tiger,” Survivor celebrated “man and his will to survive.”

I see no reason to celebrate the will to survive. A cockroach has the will to survive. I have much more respect for the will to achieve, the will to contribute or the will to matter. These are things that are uniquely human, and people who pursue such things often do meaningful things.

Ayn Rand said that the best thing you can do for your fellow man is give a sight of achievement. I will qualify that. It is one of the best things that you can do. You can also do good for your fellow man by curing diseases, or by working for philanthropic organizations, or by solving people's problems. Achievement is one of the good things that are there. It is not the only good thing that is there; but it is better than an inhuman existence in order to survive. Because – let's face it – what isn't.

It occurs to me that Survivor, in writing “The Eye Of The Tiger,” did not do it in order to survive. He was driven by desire to achieve, or by desire to be wealthy or famous. All of these are legitimate considerations, and they propelled him to stardom. Such a pity is it that he glorified the thing that we have in common with cockroaches and not things that actually improve the world.

I have been told that my “survival” chakra is closed. That is because I object to the state of affairs that glorifies things we have in common with low-order life forms and not the things that stand in glory of man. I refuse to live in order to survive. That does not mean that I refuse to work – I work well enough. I seek a better meaning than survival, and I have found better meaning in many places.

So I think it is time that things be put into perspective. Glorifying survival – and forcing people to live in order to survive – debases humanity. There are much more valid goals to strive for, and I have listed some of them. I hope that more people see through the survival propaganda and find workable ways to achieve, workable ways to matter, and workable ways to make the most of their lives.