AZspot AZspot

blue bits. red rocks.
Saturday 15 December 2012

The great myth of our time is the heroic pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps tale of His Majesty the Autonomous Self (and how convenient is it that this selfsame trope is the foundational myth capitalism needs most for its continued political survival). But this myth needs no creeds to perpetuate its dominance, for it is woven into the very fiber of our being. We were all inculcated into the cult of individualism – by our families, who tell us we are special; by the vision of the American Dream; by schools, who demand that we specify fields; by advertising which compels us to carve out who we are by consuming certain commodities; by capitalism which teaches us that to succeed is to win in a competition of yourself against all others; and by the ever-growing new-age and pop psychology œuvre which tells us to create our own realities… But if everyone were to believe themselves as the center of their own universe in which they create their own world, values and all meaning – civilization would quickly deteriorate into solipsism, narcissism, megalomania and/or collective insanity. The Cult of Individualism

85 notes

  1. jonomad reblogged this from metamorphoseandbodhi
  2. metamorphoseandbodhi reblogged this from azspot
  3. elkepancake reblogged this from redcloud
  4. wheels64 reblogged this from asexyhoodie
  5. thgeekside reblogged this from asexyhoodie
  6. abbetiteforlife reblogged this from asexyhoodie
  7. asexyhoodie reblogged this from redcloud
  8. redcloud reblogged this from azspot
  9. awalt2069 reblogged this from azspot
  10. jammin3 reblogged this from delinquent-intelectual
  11. delinquent-intelectual reblogged this from kbas
  12. kbas reblogged this from buddhaspalm
  13. meaningzero reblogged this from azspot
  14. johnandfrank reblogged this from azspot
  15. scytheman01 reblogged this from azspot

A GNT creation ©2007–2013