The Individual in the Mirror of the World

I have considered myself an individualist most my life. Recently, the term individualism was used to describe the sorry state of modernity. This has led me to the conclusion we need to move beyond false dichotomies of individual and society.

Let’s define our terms.

Individualism here is going to be defined as :

“Individualism regards man - every man - as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among men, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights - and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members.” - Ayn Rand in The Virtue of Selfishness:

I’m not trying to tear down the notion of individualism or individual rights. What I do think, is that our individualism needs to be more refined.

Imagine a wretched society, one in which all the beliefs of the group are immoral and out of alignment with reality. By some tremendous achievement, a man is born in this society and is able to not only resist the group, but achieves rationality and independent thought and identity.

This man does not exist in a vacuum and was not raised by wolves like Romulus and Remus, he, in some part, is a product of his environment. Even the antithesis contains the thesis, if only in reflection.

The flaw of the Randian Hero, the paragon of individualism, is the denial of the mirror of society. The Hero either escapes to live in the woods (Anthem), manages to build a tower far above the mundane (The Fountainhead), or leaves society to rot (Atlas Shrugged).

The lotus flower is a metaphor for attaining enlightenment. The body of the lotus grow in the muck of the soil that makes up riverbeds and pond floors. The flower, however, blooms above water level, and the leaves are left pure of grime from where it roots. This shows the enlightened mind is pure of ignorance, which defiles.

It is in this fundamental denial of the interrelation of the individual and the society which creates him that this impulse originates.

Rand fled from Soviet Communism to America, WE have nowhere to run.

The Hero must face the filth from which he rises, not unblemished, but as the man cleansed by baptism. He who understands the means by which the ills of society may be transcended, as he has first met and cured them in himself.

This is the myth of the shaman, who rather than taking on the sins of the community, realized he was guilty of the same sins and thus absolved himself through blood, sweat, and tears.

The flaw of the Randian Hero is not a state of purity that comes in a vacuum, but a state of having been purified. This is the difference between a Hero being born and a Hero who is made. This is a model for a higher state of individualism, not one made in simple opposition to established order, but one created in the process of overcoming said order.

This is the Hero that shows in his very being the process by which the horrors and failings of the day may be conquered. This is a Hero that educates by embodying the process of learning himself.

No longer can we entertain fantasies of escape, nor afford to wait any longer for a savior. We must acknowledge we are not individuals by birth. Instead become individuals as we take on the process of correcting it. As above, so below- the flaws within you, are as the flaws without.

Society, in sickness or health, reflects the same sickness or health within us.

So to you I say this-

Know thyself. Seek those causes that have brought you to be as you are, look within yourself and find the reflection of the world. Look beyond yourself for the ills that plague the world, and see those same ills within you. As one is cleansed, so shall the other be made clean, for the individual and society are inseparable in this world.

There is no world left to escape to- we must stand and fight, the battle is both internal and external. This is the means by which the world will be made whole again, and this is the means by which you will truly meet your Self.

Call to action!

By Garrett Dailey, Founder of MasterSelf & Aion Media, follow him on Twitter here

If you found this essay interesting please do 👏 and share it where you can. Remember, you can clap up to 50 times — it makes a big difference for the authors and for Meditations & Observations.

Want MORE research based orthogonal insights? Newsletter, with Discord server link: Click here. Patrons here or twitter here.