The Individualist Manifesto

[Carthage]

THE INDIVIDUALIST MANIFESTO

We can't do anything as individuals. We have to unite and organize.

This belief is the cause of almost every problem the world has ever faced. If individuals are not able to do anything, how on earth is a united group of mindless zombies going to get anything done? Organizations, united fronts, groups, collectives, they're all just representations and supporters of the individual minds that have come up with an answer. Without the individuals that are leading it - I repeat, the INDIVIDUALS - then all we have is a united organization of mindless zombies who somehow expect the very existence of a united organization to be able to solve a problem, that there is absolutely no thought required to it. Organize! Unite! Collectivize! We see where collectivization has gotten us in the past - why on earth do you think it will help today?
"But he/I (probably) just meant that we should all organize and pitch ideas to each other to..." NO. Saying we can't do anything as individuals means also that we can't think as individuals. The problem with this is that there is only - ONLY - the individual mind, there is no such thing as a collective mind! How many times does this statement have to be explained fore people to understand it - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COLLECTIVE MIND, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COLLECTIVE MIND, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COLLECTIVE MIND!!!!!!!!!!!! Any sort of collective that has ever existed, any union or organization, has just be a large groups of INDIVIDUAL minds, and they are usually headed by a small group of INDIVIDUALS who are seen as the leaders because they either came up with the best ideas - INDIVIDUALLY - or because they are the ones best at thinking the problems through and using their individual minds to lead the organization/union/collective/group.
The answer is not to become more organized and unified, but to become more individualistic. We HAVE to start thinking for ourselves, using logic and reason to reach the answers independently. We have to start coming up with solutions without the help of others - we can all unite behind an idea, but only if it is a good one and we have used our individual minds to agree with and that we individually support, not support just because everyone else is up supporting it. Individualism is dying - real individualism is dying, it's being replaced with statements like "we can't do anything as individuals" or fashionable non-conformists - the biggest cheats, frauds, traitors, and conformists to ever walk the face of the earth. The only solution to the problems of the world is to INDIVIDUALIZE.
Collectives of the world, Disband!
Individuals of the world, declare your independence!

 

[Obdurate]

Huh? So you're saying that I can go out and change the world right here, right now? No, I can't. You completely misunderstood what I said.

Read about my beliefs. I encourage people to be individuals but ultimately if we aren't on the same page, no sustainable change will ever occur.

 

[Carthage]

Huh? So you're saying that I can go out and change the world right here, right now? No, I can't. You completely misunderstood what I said.

Read about my beliefs. I encourage people to be individuals but ultimately if we aren't on the same page, no sustainable change will ever occur.

Well, if you mean "right now" as in, within the next ten seconds, then no. But if you mean "right now," as within the next ten days...or ten hours...or ten minutes, if you live in the bronx or a city, then yeah. You can.
If we're not all on the same page, then somebody's wrong, and they must be proved wrong. Then we will be on the same page. But we should not sacrifice what we know to be right because others don't believe it. In any compromise between good and evil, or in this case, right and wrong, it is only evil and wrong that can come out on top.


But really, the post wasn't so much directed specifically at you as much as at all non-individualists. Your post was just used as a statement of introduction, more or less.

 

[Obdurate]

But you took that line of context as well. I'm an anarchist, meaning, there are a few set beliefs that we all share but it's also a theory that encourages lots of different things, including individualism, collectivism and true freedom.

Like I said in my post, you can't expect any sustainable change unless we're on the same page. That's not to say we have to be reading the same words. That isn't a threat to individualism, to share a few common beliefs so you can get something done. And it doesn't make you a conformist to anything if you come to those beliefs on your own terms. Actually, that is individualism. And then you find a group that has a few core beliefs that you share, then you can mobilize as a group to do something. I also meant "change the world" in a bigger sense. Not give a piece of bread to the poor type of change, although that's great, but doesn't ultimately eliminate the problem. All protests that have accomplished anything have been from like minded individuals (not an oxymoron) getting together.

It's ridiculous to think that anything sustainable will come about if we all just go our separate ways and do what we want, right now. If however, we had an anarchist society, we could all choose how we want to give to our communities. That's freedom. That's individualism.

Which means, quite frankly, I oppose your capitalist views

 

[Tim]

You really have me confused Carthage... are you a capitalist or and individualist? How can you do anything by yourself? To run a successful company you need to work with others...

Mankind is where it is today because of our ability to work together and get things done collectively.

 

[Obdurate]

Since we're throwing fists around, I'd like to post my own:

Edit: how do I make it smaller? lol

 

[Dana]

You really have me confused Carthage... are you a capitalist or and individualist? How can you do anything by yourself? To run a successful company you need to work with others...

Mankind is where it is today because of our ability to work together and get things done collectively.

He's a confused kid

 

[Carthage]

You really have me confused Carthage... are you a capitalist or and individualist? How can you do anything by yourself? To run a successful company you need to work with others...

Mankind is where it is today because of our ability to work together and get things done collectively.

1st answer: Both. Capitalism is the system of society where the government is limited to the prevention and countering of the initiation of force and allows for maximum individual liberty. Individualism is the philosophy that the individual is the standard of value and stresses self reliance and independence. How can you be a capitalist - believing in individual liberty - and not be an individualist? Similarly, how can you believe the individual is the standard of value and believe in self reliance and independence while supporting a society where the government limits personal liberty "for the common good".

Second of all, it's a good idea to work with others, as long as you do it as a trader, not as a person who sacrifices your ideas to another or asks another person to sacrifice with you to achieve a goal neither of you desired in the first place. That is the position individualists take in society - the position of traders, trading values for values with others. That way, both gain. However, first, the individual must hold himself as a value to approach another with the proposition of trade, rather then above him or below him (both of which contain the proposition of sacrifice).

Mankind is here because of the individual mind. Without the individual mind of great men, nothing would be here. It took an individual to invent fire, it took an individual to invent the wheel, and it will take an individual to invent the next great inventions. Things are not achieved collectively. Groups can achieve things, yes, but only as long as they are composed of individuals who are pursuing the goal for their own reason and just see an amount of strength in numbers (although this is not of prime importance.)

I don't often reference Ayn Rand if I can help it, but I seriously suggest the Fountainhead and this speech : Fountainhead Speech

 

[Tim]

Mankind is here because of the individual mind. Without the individual mind of great men, nothing would be here. It took an individual to invent fire, it took an individual to invent the wheel, and it will take an individual to invent the next great inventions. Things are not achieved collectively. Groups can achieve things, yes, but only as long as they are composed of individuals who are pursuing the goal for their own reason and just see an amount of strength in numbers (although this is not of prime importance.)

Mankind is here because of communication and the ability to work together as a group.

Mammoths were brought down with a group effort
Civilizations were formed around group mentality.
Industry was born out of groups working together to provide for the "tribe" not the individual.
Look at any successful business today and you will see groups of people working together for a common goal, not an individual.
Without uniting and organizing civilization would not be possible as we know it. There would be no chance for capitalism or business. The fact that mankind united and organized gave you everything you have and know. It is the reason you are able to post your argument that Individualism is the way to go... think about that.

 

[ssl]

If individuals are not able to do anything, how on earth is a united group of mindless zombies going to get anything done?

What level are you describing an individual from?

Well, if you are thinking of yourself as one entity, I am sorry to let you know that you are comprised of trillions of cells, with a "mind" of their own.

How about an analogy:

Your cells are to ants as the concept of I is to ant colony.

Where do we draw the line?

 

[Minor Axis]

Collectives of the world, Disband!
Individuals of the world, declare your independence!

I have no idea how you reached this conclusion (is it yours or Ayn's?) because in the real world, while yes, we are led by the leaders, most people have to agree with their leaders to make it work, and important things in society are ONLY accomplished by organization, especially not by a call for total individualism.

 

[NicAuf]

Shouldn't that last part read:
"Workers of the world, unite!"


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