Are individualism and freedom actually bad?
Question from the Internet:
“Are individualism and freedom actually bad?”
No, individualism and freedom are not actually bad, as long as we learn what our true individualism and freedom are.
Usually we consider individualism and freedom in a very independent, egocentric and subjective manner, as if we were completely separated from others and the world.
We usually associate individualism and freedom with the notion, that I should be able to do whatever I want, using all my qualities and abilities to promote and serve myself regardless of others and the system we exist in.
But such independent, self-serving individualism and freedom does not exist in the fully integrated and interdependent world we live in. And this global integration and interdependence is not man-made, it is forced and obligated on us by nature’s system and its laws.
When we look at nature’s integral and living systems – for example observing our own biological body – we can see how natural integration and mutually complementing cooperation works and creates healthy life.
We are born with a unique “human confusion”, considering ourselves as independentr and standalone beings that could do whatever they want. As a result, we have been building civilizations and societies that are based on this notion of independent individuals, who are free to succeed and survive at the expense of others and nature. And we can see, how this “human confusion” lead us to the point of very realistic self-destruction in this, or in the next generation.
Thus we need to learn and express our individualism and freedom in a very different way. Not because some ideologies, philosophies or religions say so, but because we will not survive unless we learn and follow nature’s strict, unchanging and unforgiving laws. And these laws tell us that we have to become like healthy, indiviodual cells in the same, integrated and mutually complementing body.
Our individualism, our unique individual qualities and abilities will be exprtessed through a totally selfless, mutually responsible and mutually complementing integration, each individual finding their own, irreplaceable and crucually important role. This will be the actual way of getting to know ourselves and how we can maximize our individual potential. And this will be achieved through true freedom, becoming free of our instinctive and self-destructive notion that we are independent individuals who have the right to anything at any cost for their own sake.