:hacker_o::hacker_k::hacker_u::hacker_u: :sonnenrad: on Nostr: Like so many other Enlightenment ideas, individualism sounds very nice on the ...

Like so many other Enlightenment ideas, individualism sounds very nice on the surface. The intrinsic worth of the individual? Valuing independence? Prioritizing the individual over the state or a social group? Opposing external interference upon one's own interests by society and the government? Who wouldn't support that?

But as we've learned from experience, it is contributing to the destruction of civilization. If you want proof, just look at any modern American city. The people living there have no sense of community, they have no shared values, and no one trusts each other. Individualism has created a society where it's every man for himself.

This idea is also one of the root causes of the current trans mania sweeping the West. The individual has been liberated from the constraints of religion and social norms, so it logically follows that he should also be liberated from the constraints of reality. The individual's personal feelings are the only thing that matters in this framework, so no one is able to claim that self-castration is a bad idea.

And like so many other Enlightenment ideas, what initially promised liberation has led to enslavement. If a person has no sense of connection to his nation or local community, if he has no family ties, if he has no religion that makes him feel part of something that transcends the material world, then he is reduced to an atom, floating aimlessly among other atoms. And atomized individuals are easier to control. If they have no other connections, then they are entirely dependent on the government.

And I'm not proposing collectivism either. In collectivism, people are dissolved into the group and become devoid of any unique qualities. The fight between individualism and collectivism is a false dichotomy we need to reject. What we truly need is an organic society. We need to return to viewing society the same way we do the human body. In this type of society, each person is like a different organ. They serve a unique purpose which then benefits society as a whole. This was how the ancients handled the relationship between the group and the individual, and if it has worked for thousands of years, then it will still work now.