LINK The Individual vs. Tyranny - YouTube
A video from The Academy of Ideas on the importance of the Individual. My initial thoughts concern my refusal to drink anyone's Kool-Aid.
If you watched, what are your thoughts?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.No time for videos this morning but I would resist the notion of the stated simplistic dichotomy. Tyranny is authoritarian and controlling of the individual but that is not to say that the opposite extreme of rugged individualism is a Good Thing. Individual rights always have to be balanced against community rights, even in an enlightened, egalitarian society.
It's even worse to cast it as "The" individual vs tyranny. As if every contrarian notion that enters my mind is a blow against tyranny. Ironically, some such notions can indirectly favor tyranny by creating conditions favorable to authoritarianism.
If some people didn't cast anything other than "my way or the highway" as anti-tyrannical, I'd be less pedantic about the semantics here. But words and how we use them matter; they frame our discussion and in this case, I think, corrupt it. Our goal is not everyone totally doing their own thing, it is everyone having an equal shot at contentment, self-actualization, meaning and purpose, while being respectful of the rights of everyone else to attain those things, too. And this means not always getting what I want when I want it, or necessarily even seeking to.
mordant
Level 8
Mar 5, 2019
1
@Hastur It's a 10 minute video and it took me 45 seconds to write that. If I stopped for every 5 to 10 minute (to 2 hour!) video I'd never work through the new posts of the day.
The validity of what I wrote is based on its content and not whether I should have watched some video. Do you have any desire to address what I actually said, or are you reduced to ad hominem comments about me?
And by the way ... my remark wasn't some sort of personal criticism of you posting a video. It's fine to do that. It's fine for people to watch them if they choose to. It's fine to comment or not, whether or not you watch it.
@Hastur Tyrants -- actual and would-be -- are always looking for excuses and rationalizations to take power for themselves. When people feel uneasy they are more willing to feel the need for a "strong man" to "protect" them. It's hard for authoritarians to fool people who are living orderly, prosperous lives in a peaceful community. So some displays of individuality -- such as, say, criminal activity, cults, violent protest -- create an atmosphere in society that's more receptive to an authoritarian's propositions.
Of course in this age of bullshit, the ginned-up threats to Law and Order don't even have to be real. Like Trump's claim that shambling hordes of criminals are approaching the border, when they aren't.
. I'm familiar with the theories. Great site i subscribed.
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