Individualism doesn’t exist! I have said it before and I will say it again. Egoism yes, egotism sure! The strongest reason to stay in line? Peer pressure! When you are part of a group you conform to the rules of that group or you are out. When you are part of no group, you die! Literally!
I have stated before that the reason why our European governments are concerned over growing individualism is that they are afraid it will split our society, at least their version of it. The current US government has a different point of view, they create their own society/reality and do so through the conviction of faith, a dynamic enforced by the large group of born again Christians who have the firm believe that ‘God’ is in the White House through George W. Bush. They are using the very strong bonds that people form when they agree on principle and see their leader act on that principle without any doubt, and sadly: reflection. Easy certainty. Truth is less important than truthfulness. If enough people have faith in you, however wrong you are, you’re right! We see some changes now, apparently you can’t fool all the people, all the time. Wonder where it will end.
The European reaction to ‘individualism’ is more rules to keep people in line with the prevalent socialistic credo. Our governments limit our choices and how to realize our dreams in the name of efficiency and equality, and now with the web (and other sources of information) giving us more freedom to make our own choices instead of theirs, we have become individualists and don’t care about each other anymore.
This is an understandable reaction from people who have completely lost touch with their voting base and are caught up in ideals that are not prevalent anymore. They hang on to their ideals and make more rules to trap people in their idealistic nets. Their problem is that it has not been working for the last three to five years and will only exacerbate their and our alienation and so-called individualism. People don’t recognize themselves anymore in their so-called leaders, because they only see their leaders limiting their lives instead of providing paths and opportunities to improve them. That is not individualism, that is giving individuals the means to join other original thinkers and come up with new ways of improving our lives, creating new products, services and cultures that benefit the groups they are part of or create new ones that see the potential of doing fun things together. Those individuals that create stuff that has no value will stay individuals and connect to others or drop out of our society, so if there is such a thing as individualism, just use the perspective of the egg and not always the chicken and stop over regulating; whatever individualism there is will become extinct in no time. Communities will be the driving factor of our society. The ‘White House’ seams to be on to this and with the way they have done it, will sadly scare Europe into holding on to old school believes a little longer. See what is happening in the
All this may sound idealistic, and in a sense it is. I have an optimistic view of what people are capable of together and for those who think it will result in anarchy, they are just scared of loosing power. We still have such a thing as a legal system that has been set up to deal with crimes and excesses and we should be very careful about keeping it strong and functioning. Rules and regulations that limit our lives though should be a thing of the past. I sincerely hope that we renew our search for excellence and give people the means to connect and work together in ways they think best and create fun new stuff. That will certainly not be done through individualism, but by individuals who together form communities that benefit their members.
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