Passive Man vs. Active Man

I've been reading more of Ayn Rand's biography by Jennifer Burns which not only includes the events in her life but also an insightful analysis of motives behind her ideas. One particular dyad struck me: Rand's distinction between the "Active Man" and the "Passive Man". Paraphrased from the book, their struggle is that between the desire for freedom and the desire for security. However, what I have come to conclude is that the two motivations are much too related to serve as a dichotomy and need to be properly distinguished. In order to do that, we must first define "freedom" and "security" in the context of man. 
     In my head, the measure of man's freedom is the strength of the connection between his actions and his will- which essentially means that man does exactly what he wants. One could argue that "freedom" is used in a plethora of other contexts like "freedom from strife" or "freedom from responsibility", but that is more of a means to man's freedom than the state itself. So now, taking into consideration the fallibility of individual judgment and security of the masses, why is the individual freedom of man vital to his survival? 
     Honestly, it isn't. Don't people survive in the most dire situations. Don't we thrive in prisons, hospitals, as children, slaves, moochers, and et cetera? Isn't it our natural tendency to seek the shelter of authority? Isn't that why there is "God"? Don't we say that we are happy? 
       That's because we've been used to living a quasi-life rather than that which would allow man to live in his highest state. To live as man would mean to spill blood for milk- as Simone de Beauvoir explained in "The Second Sex"- or to endlessly work for what we could have. To spill blood for milk implies that man's values and desires are the reason for his survival; thus, the attainment of the man's life the way he wants is his own responsibility and right to attain. The man who chronically sacrifices his values for the sake of the preservation or comfort of his life is considered the "Passive Man"

Ayn Rand on Creative Writing

Honestly, I think that this is what every fiction writer must consider before embarking on that next bestseller.

“[I]f creative fiction writing is a process of translating an abstraction into the concrete, there are three possible grades of such writing: translating an old (known) abstraction (theme or thesis) through the medium of old fiction means (that is, characters, events or situations used before for that same purpose, that same translation) -- this is most of the popular trash; translating an old abstraction through new, original fiction means -- this is most of the good literature; creating a new, original abstraction and translating it through new, original means. This, as far as I know, is only me -- my kind of fiction writing.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/45650

Prelude

Hello everyone (or no one- as I'm anticipating...), welcome to Vicissitudes! My current and quite ambitious intent for this blog is to turn it into a cutting-edge commentary rebutting popular ethics and American thinking, but bearing in mind my past endeavors, Frankenstein's monster wouldn't be that far off. That being said, feel free to skim, peruse, disparage, advise, or simply enjoy my blog.

~JunusJunior