Recently by Gary D. Barnett: Thank You for Your Service? NoThanks!
Collectivism holds that, in human affairs, the collective – society, the community, the nation, the proletariat, the race, etc. – is the unit of reality and the standard of value. On this view, the individual has reality only as a part of the group, and value only insofar as he serves it.
~ Leonard Peikoff
The mind of the collectivist is empty and pitiful, and has not the ability to think on its own. It has no uniqueness; it has no individual personality. It does not create, nor does it possess any sense of self. The collectivist mind can't possess these virtues because it is only a very small cog in a wheel of the group. It is but a speck in the midst of a mob. This is the story of America today, as collectivism runs rampant and individualism is shunned.
This is a rather harsh truth about the dramatic decline of individualism, of individual thought, critical thinking, and self-responsibility. It is an admission that once sane minds have all but disappeared from view, and philosophical degradation has been the result. Because of this mass escape from personal responsibility, moral, physical, political, and economic corruption has become the norm, and now this corruption is all encompassing.
When collectivism takes hold, individual rights naturally disappear, and mob rule policies take root. This policy transformation of course, is affected by the state. The progression from a system that is based on individual self rule and individual sovereignty to one of community or nation is not in the interest of freedom and liberty. When any political system is in place, this negative progression is easily achieved nonetheless. Only peaceful anarchy allows for the individual to be truly sovereign. Only when the state is absent can freedom flourish.
Ruling "elites" crave this merging of individuals into a societal tumor, because this cancer destroys the power of individual thought. The result of this diseased system can lead only to consensus and compromise. It can lead only to corruption. Consensus leads to no real decision at all, and the following compromise is nothing more than a mass combining of ignorance. When political policy is decided in this manner, it serves only to limit the individual's ability to achieve.
While freedom is a natural right of man, it is difficult to obtain, and even more difficult to keep. It requires that the individual be self-responsible. Apparently, many if not most in this country today, have chosen to follow along with the crowd instead of listening to the beat of a different drummer. They have chosen to be dependent sheep in the collective flock. This is unfortunate, and in my opinion, it has destroyed any idea of real liberty in this country.
Why do people choose to run with the mob, to exist in a mass? They do so because it is the easiest path with the least amount of resistance. They do so thinking they are bettering their lot in life. They do so because they are afraid, and seek to gain a false safety. They do so to shirk personal responsibility. They do so to hide from the truth. They do so to hide from themselves.
In the United States today, virtually everything is decided by the few, but with the implied consent of the mob. The U.S. political system has major aspects of socialism and fascism, and is certainly an oligarchy, but most have the misguided notion that the mob is in charge. This is due to a belief by the masses in the farce of voting. Voting gives the false impression that the voters themselves are in control, but nothing could be further from the truth. In essence, those voted into office as "representatives" of the people, are fully controlled by very powerful interest groups, and these groups are the real rulers. This is a very flawed system, but it is one that gives the false impression that the majority rules. That is simply not the case, and even if it were, it would still be immoral! This system is accepted and embraced by the crowd, but in reality, why should anyone rule over anyone else, majority or not? How can freedom survive in a place where one has the power to rule over another? I can tell you, it can't!
As Butler Shaffer pointed out in the past in his great article titled Collectivist Utopias:
"All political systems are socialistic, in that they are premised upon the subservience of individual interests to collective authority."
This truth goes unnoticed by the masses, mainly because they have been fooled into thinking that they are free, when in fact their lives are virtually void of any individual thought or authority. This is a sad state of affairs, but it is the reality in America today. Without the individual, real freedom cannot exist, so collectivist societies based upon the common or greater good of all, are destined only to end in slavery to the state. This has proven to be true throughout history.
The collective "we" has been brainwashed into believing that self-interest, self-responsibility, and self-sufficiency are not in the best interest of the group, but just the opposite of course is the case. This brainwashing has been accomplished through a long indoctrination process that is still firmly in place.
Consider the government's "public" school system, where most every child in the country is taught the same nonsense for most of his learning years, and is indoctrinated throughout childhood to love first his community, state, and nation.
Consider the worship for a constitution that gave massive and in some cases, unlimited (not limited) power to a federal government, and lessened greatly the importance of the individual in favor of the "general welfare."
Consider the reliance on government welfare by the people via the multitude of social programs that are meant to make dependency on government almost mandatory.
Consider the mindset of the "99 per centers" that aim to force the so-called 1 per cent to be more inclusive, fair, and responsive to the group.
Consider the mob's acceptance of a heavy and progressive income taxation used as a way to equalize outcomes by redistributing private property for the so-called benefit of all.
Consider "public" lands or "public" anything.
Consider the idiotic term, "giving back."
Consider today's strict concentration on race, class, society as a whole, community, state, and nation, all more important than the individual.
Consider the mass acceptance of the National Anthem and the communistic Pledge of Allegiance.
Consider the constant call "for the greater good of society!"
Collectivism, as a political ideology, thrives on the idea that force by the state should determine how those in the mob can benefit at the expense of others. It allows for the collective to force policy decisions that serve to dictate how each individual must live his life. It has no respect for private property. It attempts to destroy self-responsibility, self-reliance, and self-interest. It puts the mob, whether that is the community, the state, or the nation, above all else. It relies on the elimination of individualism, all for the so-called benefit of society as a whole. Collectivism is then, the epitome of immorality, of dishonesty, and of exploitation.
Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, "to be free from freedom."
~ Eric Hoffer
April 30, 2012
