I hear these comments for not wanting to help people, and it feels like we’re worshipping individuality to the detriment of community, which is necessary for survival.
- “I don’t want my money going to ___ .”
- “This is not a democracy, it’s a constitutional republic!”
- “You don’t have any freedoms under socialism/communism.”
- “They’re just looking for a handout because they’re lazy.”
- “I’m a self-made man. I didn’t need anyone’s help.”
- “Empathy is not a virtue.”
- “I don’t see how that’s my problem.”
USA culture has always been this way. It’s what made us different from Europe and a huge beacon for immigration.
The idea that you can just do what you want and fuck what everyone else thinks, esp your community.
Is worshiping community to the detriment of individuality better? You forget that most communities are highly oppressive and discriminatory, they only want the ‘right’ people to be a part of them. If you challenge the tenants of the community, you will be punished, including expulsion or violence.
It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Communal action and solidarity are essential for providing benefits to individuals.
You may ask your boss to raise your pay, likely to be rejected, or you can join a union and demand a much higher pay and better working conditions.
You may do your best to add small niceties to shared spaces, or you can unite with your neighbors and make the community thrive.
You may stand alone against injustice, only to be moved when convenient. Or you can walk the streets together, making your shared concerns heard.
Neither of it is actually much ideologically tied, and it can go in any direction. But the point is, collective action is best when addressing issues many people face individually.
Building a culture of self-made individualism is a deliberate attempt to remove the levers of power granted by collective action, and to make it easier to crush dissent on the way to build an authoritarian dystopia.
That’s not to say collective action cannot be abused to make a very ugly society - fascism is one example - but that the best results are achieved when the individuals retain their own views, but are willing to cooperate over the shared issues.
you assume it’s biconditional. it’s not.
you can ask your boss for a raise, and get fired. for a lot of people there is no option for a union. and the smart move is to apply for another job that offers you better wages in another community entirely.
some of us had given a lot to our communities… and told to go f ourselves for not ‘fitting in’ or standing up against that community when it was willing to commit injustice in the name of ‘justice’.
also HOAs are a great way neighbors unite… specifically to oppress everyone else around them by making up all sorts of weird rules and penalties restricting the freedom of others. and if you you have no option to not be in the HOA now in a lot of places because that form of ‘community’ has become pervasive and oppressive in the name of ‘justice’ of preserving property values and creating exclusionary housing. that isn’t facism, it’s the self-interest of the community putting itself way above the interest of any individual who might want different.
Community isn’t necessary a net positive effect, oftentimes it can be totally oppressive. you can organize to create and promote injustice against marginalized people and further marginalize them or straight up criminalize them.
for a lot of people there is no community when shared views are retained. the point of community is submission of your individuality to the ‘greater good’.