@amerika I like what you're saying in this post, but I feel like the word "individualist" carries two almost opposite definitions. In my view you can be an individualist in that you as an individual are the most important unit in the world and therefore the world has a duty to cater to you as an individual (what you seem to be describing here), or individualism as in considering yourself to be the one who is ultimately responsible for your own actions, behavior and outcomes and the world doesn't owe you or anyone else shit. The latter is an antidote to the former, and it's important to recognize the former as a vice even if the latter can be a virtue. You could almost call the former egoism (which you sort of do in the article

RT: https://www.amerika.org/?p=63892

@sj_zero

I view it this way: you either have goals beyond yourself or not.

Individualists think only of themselves.

Others have goals, some good and some bad.

@amerika @sj_zero Not quite... both individualists and egoists can have goals beyond themselves, if and only if, those goals end up in feelings of pleasure, achievement etc. for the individual.

The main thing for the individual, is that it is my happiness that counts first and foremost, and if having goals beyond myself, increases my happiness, then that's all fine for the individualist.

@h4890 @sj_zero

"Not quite... both individualists and egoists can have goals beyond themselves, if and only if, those goals end up in feelings of pleasure, achievement etc. for the individual."

Suggests they are the same.

There is no altruism; we all act to do what pleases us.

But doing it for "feelings" is individualism, narcissism, solipsism, etc.

It is not a healthy psychology; in fact, it is inverted

I guess in a superpositional sense, I'm looking at it as two questions: what is owed to me, and what do I owe to others?

And I tend to think that the healthiest way to look at things is that nobody owes you anything, whereas you have a duty to yourself, immediate family, extended family, community, region, or Nation. Of course you still want to carefully choose your allegiances so that your contributions are positive in the world, but being thankful for everything that you get and giving whatever you can without being forced to by a tyranny is ultimately quite healthy.

I really need to get my next book out, it's basically in the can just needs one final review.

@sj_zero

I think viewing it in terms of "owing" is probably self-sabotage.

The point is what makes the best life, and the answer is the transcendental, which gets us out of the ghetto of ourselves.

You're probably right, and my phrasing is somewhat "fighting the last war" in terms of framing. This society lost the fight, the selfishness won, and everyone's worried about getting what they're owed instead of contributing to something greater than themselves.

@sj_zero

Forgive the Pollyanna stuff

I think humanity had to learn the lesson of this time

We are moving on to something much better, but nothing is written in stone yet

The dirty secret of individualism is that it decreases individuality; the essence of transcendentalism is that it helps us escape our lonely boring selves!