Every Individual is Part of the Whole

By: Andy Carloff
Submitted: 2009-10-20 17:45:11
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Individualism and Collectivism as Part of the Same Desire

"Let us also observe that if the needs of the individual are our starting-point, we cannot fail to reach Communism, an organization which enables us to satisfy all needs in the most thorough and economical way."

--Peter Kropotkin, "The Conquest of Bread," 1892, Chapter 14, Part II

    As a Socialist, many will argue how I can be an Individualist.  If I believe in making things more public and more common, how can I also be a defender and believer of the individual?

    My personal belief is that only each person knows what is right for themselves.  If they make an incorrect choice, only they can learn from it, and forcing them into the right path, even if you are sure it's the right path, will make them stubborn to it, instead of naturally accepting it out of their experiences.

    And it is the stubborn acceptor who will be the first to doubt, the first to exploit, the first to push and shove others around them; "This is how I was indoctrinated into the order, by something being put forcefully upon me!  And so I shall do it to others around me!  I have been the prey, and now I am the predator..."

    But the person to naturally accept something, because their reason and evidence compels them, will be thoughtful and logical.  They'll be able to defend their belief in argument; they'll be able to expose deceit and promote virtue.  They accepted it, after critically examining it.  And it is this skeptical mind that will quickly point out the weaknesses and contradictions of opponents.

    Whether it is a religious, social, cultural, or educational idea -- only the individual knows what is right for themselves.  Pushing them into something runs the risk of making them stubborn to it, as well as the pusher being deceived in what would improve the individual.  Only the individual is the best decision-maker in their own life.

    "If you believe so much in the value of the individual, how are you also a collectivist?  How can you both believe in the meaning of the individual, and the meaning of the collective?"

    As an individualist, I believe that only each individual should make their own decisions.  The individual should do what is in their best interest, according to their own reasoning and experience.  And it is in the individual's best interest to abolish Capitalism!

    Capitalism entails ownership of the majority of wealth by the few.  This is its defining detail: that property is held and controlled by the few.  For this reason, it operates and functions according only to the interests of the few.  Through cooperation, businesses work together to raise prices and fix markets.  Then there is always the constant opposition to workers' rights.

    Some of this exploitation is done through deliberate agreements; other times, it is done just through the general understanding that all rich corporations have with each other.  That understanding is that they want to maintain their position on top of the rest of society.  To sacrifice some of the gains from competition, they'll get the security of absolute domination over the market.

    What is available for purchase, what hours you work, what land and factories are used for, to what end society operates -- all of this are out of your possession.  As an individual, it is in your interest to resist and change it.  And as a collective, it is in the people's interest to change it.  Only by organizing as a collective will we liberate the individual.

    This is the spirit of Anarcho-Syndicalism; and it is the perfect duality of individualism and collectivism.

"We hold further that Communism is not only desirable, but that existing societies, founded on Individualism, are inevitably impelled in the direction of Communism. The development of Individualism during the last three centuries is explained by the efforts of the individual to protect himself from the tyranny of Capital and of the State. For a time he imagined, and those who expressed his thought for him declared, that he could free himself entirely from the State and from society. 'By means of money,' he said, 'I can buy all that I need.' But the individual was on a wrong tack, and modern history has taught him to recognize that, without the help of all, he can do nothing, although his strong-boxes are full of gold."

Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has traveled all across the United States and has experienced American life in the urban centers, as a homeless squatter and as a blue-collar, working-class laborer. Since high school and early development, he has composed a variety of ideas on education, politics, and economy. His positions are ultra-leftist: politically an Anarchist, economically a Socialist, and culturally a Syndicalist. His writings are available through his website: http://www.punkerslut.com

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Politics category

  • Do Sanctions on Iran Work? - By: Gabriel Sawma
    Three weeks ago, Iran revealed that it had a uranium-enrichment facility near the holy city of Qum. The U.S. began working with its allies, mainly France and Great Britain for a fresh round of sanctions against Tehran. This article addresses the effect of sanctions on Iran
  • Every Individual is Part of the Whole - By: Andy Carloff
    As much as you are an individual, you will be effected by the organization of society. You can be an individualist, but you will be rocked and effected by the actions of the collective. "As a Socialist, many will argue how I can be an Individualist. If I believe in making things more public and more common, how can I also be a defender and believer of the individual?"
  • What Is Your Relationship With Work? - By: Andy Carloff
    Examining what it means to be employed, and what it means to be unemployed; what it means to be your own master, and what it means to be subjugated. "It is the same as all past revolutions. Collective action to create individual liberty!"
  • Where Does Society's Wealth Come From? - By: Andy Carloff
    Investigating where wealth and luxury come from; and then analyzing the idea of rights and justice in terms of property. "...we are living on a planet where the few, idle Capitalists own the majority of wealth."
  • A Race Hanging By a Thread - By: Bobby Miller s
    I have never spoken a kind word about the Israelis in my life, but it's simply impossible to deal with these hate-consumed Arabs.
  • The Politics of a Great Headline - By: Colleen Davis
    Election time is just around the corner and candidate's are out in full force pushing their campaigns with posters and signs on every other corner. Add this to the regular influx of ads hitting the streets every week
  • President Searching With a Fine Tooth Comb - By: Ajeet Khurana
    The US Presidential elections are due in 2008. Intelligent voters always weigh their options before choosing someone as President.
  • The Insurgency in Southern Thailand - By: Matt Crook
    Thai premier Surayud Chulanont has reacted to escalating violence in Thailand’s southernmost regions by traveling to the area and making his latest move towards ending decades of violence.The insurgency in southern Thailand has received major media attention in the wake of a series of violent incidents centered in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.The history of this separatist movement can be traced back to the early twentieth century when in 1902 Patani was annexed by Thailand (then known as Siam).
  • John Kerry, Republicans, & Our Military: So Irate Together - By: Stephen Oakes
    What do John Kerry, Republicans, and now the U.S. military have in common?
  • Fighting Dem's, Hiding Dem's, and All Things in Between - By: Greg Reeson
    The latest television campaign ad in the Virginia Senate race features two of the primary election approaches engineered by Democratic strategists for this November's mid-term contest: attacking the President's judgment and competence and appealing to the patriotism and dedication to service of current and former military members. These two campaign tactics, along with a third, newer strategy that just emerged in recent weeks, form the core of Howard Dean's plan for winning back the House and Senate after twelve years of Republican control.The first part of the campaign strategy centers on attacking the Republican candidate, Senator George Allen, by framing him as "guilty through association" for his support of the President and his policies.