Here the basic reversal is most deadly. The issue has been perverted andman has been left no alternative—and no freedom. As poles of good andevil, he was offered two conceptions: egoism and altruism. Egoism was heldto mean the sacrifice of others to self. Altruism—the sacrifice of self toothers. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but achoice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflictedupon others for the sake of self. When it was added that man must find joy inself-immolation, the trap was closed. Man was forced to accept masochismas his ideal—under the threat that sadism was his only alternative. This wasthe greatest fraud ever perpetrated on mankind.“This was the device by which dependence and suffering wereperpetuated as fundamentals of life.“The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice isindependence or dependence. The code of the creator or the code of thesecond-hander. This is the basic issue. It rests upon the alternative of life ordeath. The code of the creator is built on the needs of the reasoning mindwhich allows man to survive. The code of the second-hander is built on theneeds of a mind incapable of survival. All that which proceeds from man’sindependent ego is good. All that which proceeds from man’s dependenceupon men is evil.“The egoist in the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices others. Heis the man who stands above the need of using others in any manner. Hedoes not function through them. He is not concerned with them in anyprimary matter. Not in his aim, not in his motive, not in his thinking, not inhis desires, not in the source of his energy. He does not exist for any otherman—and he asks no other man to exist for him. This is the only form ofbrotherhood and mutual respect possible between men.
