On Healthy Individuality and Society -- excerpts from The Axxiad
On Human Differentiation
A Human being is continually differentiating through variation, divergence, creativity, individuality, change and evolution.
Humans are ceaselessly forming new social collections and wholes. Civilizations are defined by these degrees and forms of differentiation. The further you go back in time the less differentiation you will find. In the 21st century we have entered a new stage of individuality. The diverse thinker reverses the definition of “civilization” from iso-think and anti-diversity to true freedom and true individuality.
There are many forms of individuality. There is scientific individuality, artistic, economic and political individuality; there are schools of thought, ethnic and national individuality and so on. But, in the end, individuality is based on the individual.
On the Search for the Individual
The Human race has been on a long search for the "individual". We have been cleaving the unique from the common; we have been striving for freedom, the freedom to be different, focusing on nuances of difference. In this long historical process we can now say we know the difference between individuality and sociality and groupism and egotism and alienation and more.
We know that the forces of the anti-diverse have confused us for a long period, suppressing the individual within us. Why? Because essentially these forces never want a single, true individual to arise, for a true individual makes a poor slave, they differ, they rebel, they think for themselves, they modify, they create, they replace. Such behavior is the supreme enemy of their "civilization".
What then is the "individual"? First, it is that part of you that is unique. The forces of the anti-diverse do not want to contend with the unique, it is inefficient to have millions and billions of unique people. It is so much better to have the faceless mass. And this lack of uniqueness binds them to leaders who give the faceless mass a substitute identity, a faceless MASK.
The second feature of an individual is freedom, the freedom to be unique, to have your own thoughts and way. Without freedom there is no actual expression of the unique.
These two factors cannot come to fruition unless you have consciousness of your own individuality; they go hand in hand. To express your uniqueness you must know it, otherwise you might be imitating others, following given models or simply confused as to who you are. You get to know yourself through a process called “life”. To be free you must be conscious of what limits your freedom and what liberates your freedom, otherwise you may think you are free and not be at all. Freedom must be studied, explored and tested.
The two parts of your individuality are your uniqueness and your freedom. It seems simple enough, but other things come into the picture which amend or cloud up your individuality, these are things like sociality, alienation, groupism, egotism, bodyism, slacking and so on.
On Sociality
Now that we know what an individual is, we can say we now know what "society" is, the two mysteries are solved at once. Individuality and sociality are now clear after thousands of years of confusion; a confusion much to the benefit of political and psychological despots.
What is "sociality"? Sociality is connecting with society, interacting with society, promoting society, communicating with society, seeking help from society; it is opposite to but not in conflict with individuality.
Individuality is through independent thought and action, individuals are their own agents; they are, in fact, the only truly active force in the world. An individual has the choice of being an agent for personal goals or for social goals. Sociality must become a component of individuality; the individual must split into personal and community.
Sociality is cooperation with others, connection with others, rituals and gatherings, communication with others, compassions and sacrifice for others, respect and defense of others, and the creation of family, community and all other institutions of social Ground that provide fundamental nurture and support for citizens.
Society is in your head, you are an individual and part of society too. You are a part that keeps the whole alive in the mind. This important abstraction in the mind leads to considered behavior and social good. The trick is to get sociality out of your head, practice it, actualize it, and work at it. Otherwise, you will have a beautiful mind surrounded by an ugly world, because you did nothing to change the world. You come into this world through your mother and you go out of the world as a mother, everyone gives birth to the world.
At what point does individuality become sociality? When you become fully aware of your personal traits, that is, when you grasp that much of what makes up you came from other individuals. Your overall personality is unique, but there are significant elements contributed by others. When you realize that you are an individual, yet, at the same time, a composite of individuals, your sociality begins.
If others helped forge your identity, then your attitude toward others changes. You see your connection to society; you begin to appreciate the work of society. Then at some point you will grasp your obligation and task. You will realize what the whole process is about.
Soon you will understand that you must influence and teach others, that your individuality must be passed on to other individuals. This is Human cultural reproduction, and you have an important part to play in building up "Social Ground". Individuality respects individuality, and through sociality this respect is best manifested.
Individuality begins with the word, "NO", with this word the rebellious formation of the individual starts, then with the word, "YES", a new stage of the individual is signaled. Next, sociality starts, the focus on ME shifts to YOU, and in the long run “you” becomes a part of “me” and “me” becomes a part of “you”.
On Social Ground
What is "Social Ground"? It is from which you sprout, "Ground" is all the external conditions that support the individual, such as education, family, community, colleagues and more. Ground provides feedback, guidance, emotional and moral support, education, models and mentors and so on.
An individual is produced from Ground, social Ground, that is. The individual must in the course of his or her life create more social Ground to produce more healthy individuals. This is true Human reproduction not the simple biological reproduction of other species.
There is a direct causal link between Ground and sociality with individuality. Contrary to the views of many, MORE individuality is created by Ground and sociality, and more healthy individuality results, especially, in the young. With better social support, more activism against suffering, and building new social institutions, individuality grows, it does not shrink. The duality of Ground and individuality do not compete at the expense of each other, they work together and evolve and flourish together.
On the other hand, when social ground is nonexistent what often arises is alienation, unhealthy individualism, greed and survivalism. When society provides no support for the individual, then the individual is forced into extreme modes of perception and action to survive in a hostile world.
On Individuals as Agents
The individual is the only AGENT in the world; people must even represent systems and groups, without people these institutions do not function at all. This is why to change systems, the key is the beliefs and actions of individuals who suffer from systems, and those who manage them too. The individual is everything.
Everything is "individualism" because only individuals act. Things, technology, and organization, these do not act, they must be maintained; otherwise, things, technology and organization stop working.
We must always remember this important point -- at times we may fall into the idea that we are dominated by "evil systems", "machines", "robot bureaucrats", "forces", "historical laws" and so on, but this is a fallacy. We are dominated by people not things, not even ideas either. People make systems work, when people no longer believe in systems, defend systems, AND maintain systems then they collapse.
People make the world happen, and people are always manifested as individuals. Change the view of the agent, then the agent will act in a new way.
On the Illusion of the Group
The individual is the only true agent. From this truth we realize that no one actually represents a "group"! Leaders of collectivism do not actually represent the interests of the group, they represent themselves, they represent their own selfish and biased interests. They disguise their egotism behind social sounding words, symbols, myths and rituals. They claim to represent our interests. They do so by denying our individual interests and substituting a "group" interest. But no one can represent the group; it is not possible in a Social Diverse.
The group can only be represented by the group itself, another word for that is "democracy". Even the use of middle men as representatives is not actually true democracy, because these middle men will substitute their personal interests and views for those of the people.
The group representing the group actually requires full individual participation by everyone, that is, full individualism. Thus, true sociality IS individualism, ironically. The true individual wants to communicate and cooperate. You can be a full individual and be social too; there is no magic about it.
True individualism becomes sociality, as the social idea is held in the minds of millions of individuals; this abstraction then breaks them from egotism via action, and then returns them to the concrete world of Human beings.
On Internal and External Guidance
Groupism relies upon external guidance, while individualism relies primarily on internal guidance. What does that mean?
The individual acts as his or her own ethical agent, the individual learns and develops a moral compass, the individual makes its own judgments, learns from its ethical mistakes and progresses to higher levels of ethical perception and skill. Society provides the individual, through education, mentorship and communication, the basic compass and the cognition of self responsibility. Society (other people) gives feedback to the individual, but the individual is expected to find his or her own way in the end. Only in the case of extreme transgression will society intervene.
In the case of groupism, a personal moral compass is not essential, for the ethical guide lies outside the individual, in the group. In a groupist culture ethical behavior and, in fact, most behavior is controlled by various means, by shame, guilt and fear, by philosophies and religions which deny the reality of individuality and personality, by ideologies that stress group structures such as family, community, lord, party, church, state and so on, and by strict laws that outline almost all proper behavior. Institutions can enforce groupism and in some extreme cases the group mentality is so inculcated within the citizen that they become self controlling.
The goal of a groupism is to control personal behavior by vacating any inner perception and will, and making the group the determiner of all acceptable behavior. Also, there is no privacy, the group digs up your hidden bones and secret roles and makes known all unknowns.
In a groupist society, the individual is weak and undeveloped; the group all powerful, in fact, only the group has a “personality” or “individuality”.
But we know from the discussion above that no group operates as a group, every group is led by an agent who interprets ethics, conduct and law in his interest, from his point of view. Thus, groupism in the end is merely a front, a mask that the leader hides behind. The “group” is a tool of control. The group is his invention or his ancestor’s or predecessor’s invention. Group nonsense benefits the leader who wants to control all people, and the primary means to do this is to remove individuality, identity and personality. And all the intellectual gymnastics that justify group think are designed for this end – mystical, confusing and contradictory theories manipulated in a shell game that hides the individual.
Cage Innoye
Axxiad News