A few notes on individualism

American individualism. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was constantly regaled by the world-conquering virtues of rugged self-sufficiency. We were better than the Soviet Union because it repressed free thought and individual liberty, while we defended it.

Yes. We were better that the Soviets. That failed state was a prisonhouse of nations. It repressed its own people. The ideology it purported to believe in had improved the lot of its population not one whit, while forcing it to give up any semblance of a decent life in service to a self-perpetuating nomenklatura which existed solely to privilege its own power. American individualism was propagated as its corrective. A free people living freely unencumbered by the heavy hand of government.

Of course, this is all a fallacy.

In general, I have little truck with any "ism". Once an idea becomes a hardened ideology, it is unable to evolve and adapt to meet new circumstances. American individualism falls in this category.

We must differentiate between "individualism" and "individuality". 

A truly free society would encourage its members' individuality. It would encourage, respect, and protect their individual expression. It wouldn't seek to force them to conform to an accepted norm.

Individualism is not that. Individualism is an ideology which posits that the individual is the only unit of society which matters. That the individual is complete and whole in and of himself. 

Of course, that's rank balderdash. Any society is a web of communal and mutual obligations. We are not islands adrift of one another, each self-sufficient, with no debt to anyone else.

We see where this idea of total individualism leads in the measles outbreaks occurring across the country. "Individualism" led to parents not vaccinating their children. "You can tell me what to do!" The results of that mindset were the illness and death of children, who had no say in the matter. Did their individualism not matter? Were they not consulted as to whether they wanted to succumb to an easily-preventable disease? And, of course, "individualism" has gone right out the window, as so many people are now clamoring for the measles vaccine that it is in short supply in many pharmacies in the major outbreak areas as parents realize that viruses care nothing for your principled stand against vaccination. 

Individualism as an ideology is nothing but selfishness dressed up in intellectual garb. I am an individual. I have my own beliefs and expressions. But I drive on roads with other people where I have to obey traffic laws. I work in a workplace where I have to observe rules of conduct. I live in a society where I have to obey the relevant laws. Individualism, if taken to its logical end, would say that I as a person am the most important actor in the world, and every other consideration pales in comparison.

This is no way that a society can function. "Going Galt" leads to the breakdown in everything on which we've come to depend. Individualism is a perversion of our innate need to express ourselves and unique human beings. But we are more than singular people. We have relationships which are as important as as our particular needs. Indeed, those relationships often serve to fulfill those needs, whether physically or emotionally.

Our current political regime is predicated on the idea that we owe nothing to each other. We saw this during the pandemic, when people all across the country chafed and rebelled at taking even the  most cursory steps to stop the spread of Covid. Their need to center themselves in all things overrode the needs of a functioning society. And we've seen this in the previous election, where pecuniary matters "trumped" the urgency of preserving our democracy. 

Demagogues appeal to this selfishness. "Vote for me and I will give you wealth/power/autonomy." But, of course, that never works out. Because they want to give you none of these things. They snooker you with these promises so that you, in fact, give up all these things. You will have no wealth, no power, and will be subject to their whims. You will not be an individual, but a cog in their machine. 

What I hope is one of the results from these times is that we eschew this fallacy that we are self-contained. Atomization is a serious problem in our society. We say we want to be "free", but we also are more lonely and more isolated.

I will end on a personal note.

When I first moved in with my now-wife, I was adamant about maintaining my "freedom". I didn't want to be tied down to domesticity. I wanted to be able to do anything I wanted when I wanted. Of course, that's not how any of this works. What I wanted then was to be left alone to conduct my life much as I had prior to my relationship. I was, in essence, a selfish asshole. 

If I were a religious man, I would go down on bent knee to thank the Universal Monad that my wife was far more mature than I was, and loved me enough to not give up on me. My relationship cured me of this dogmatic and toxic selfishness. 

As solitary people, we are really nothing. One person cannot affect anything by her own powers. Only in community can we move mountains. We must destroy the cult of unfettered individualism if we are to move beyond where we are.