Self Preservation is Eroded when Individuality is Lost

Why do so many lonely males get swept up by extremism, whether it’s isis, “men’s rights activism,” or white supremacy? In addition to #GunContolNow, the problem with boys falling for extremism needs to be addressed. #Charlottesville, etc.

— Johnny D. Resister (@LawdHelpUSa) February 16, 2018

Prior to the spread of the internet, ideas and concepts were not available to sway with as much force, or at least, wide spread dominance and with such speed. Gangs happen because individual identity is lost, and then used as a call for groups who want members - "find your identity (with us!)"

If people were taught pure individualism, not selfishness based on desires as Ayn Rand's philosophy promoted, but a welfare of self-first mentality, then all else would follow. Because in order to take care of the self, one must look after the self, prioritise the welfare of self, and in this one is able to recognise dangers to the self more readily. “Is this going to be beneficial to me?" Most times this will exclude mob mentality because mobs and groups ask for a sacrifice of the self; at some point the individual will be told or persuaded to drop the self-preservation in order to achieve the higher goal: "do it for your brothers," "are you a real man? Do this so you can be a real man as well!"

The higher goal, therefore, must always be self. When it’s not, stronger willed individuals who manipulate are able to take control. Personal self-hood is replaced with someone else's concept of self-hood.

Self-preservation is a key instinct, but is eroded as individual identity is lost. One feels ‘other’ rather than ‘self’. Or, they identify self as ‘other’ rather than ‘I’. ‘I’ is an inward looking state determined to find what is best for self, not subject to outside influences. While outside influences do exist, they are instead a smorgasbord of what enhances the self, not what satiates emotional, physical or intellectual desires. Satisfying these desires for the sake of satisfying them makes one a slave to desires, rather than an owner to their pleasures.

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​In terms of male violence, specifically, domestic violence, there is much to be said for ​jealousy and the (in)ability for males to express their feelings without anger turning to hatred and destruction. Much has been said by others, little of which I disagree with (if any).

I am very much a proponent of Egoism as set out by Max Stirner in his 1844 publication The Ego and Its Own. Instead of focusing on individuals outside of himself and how they should act to create a "better" society, Stirner advocated a form of anarchist philosophy that was purely about what he wanted. The point was always to remove 'spooks' from the mind - anything that reduced the individual to a subject to be manipulated by others. Many human beings, if not all, allow ideologies to rule their concepts of the world, they then become subject to these belief systems. What 'communism' has been turned into - a tyrannical 'evil' - is the perfect example - misunderstanding the theory with the application of an idea through fascists and tyrants.

Max Stirner sought to destroy all institutions, ideologies, and belief systems that took away his own individual self. The logical outcome for each Egoist via this route is quite simple: I am what I make of myself, not what others make of me; I am the Unique self according to my own will not to others.

There is no doubt in my mind that society benefits everyone when everyone is accounted for and supported. I'm okay with this, because society provides me with things I need. But history has shown how belief systems when promoted as the higher goal for whatever reason, is what kills humans, is what oppresses people, is what reduces the individual to the subject of someone else's will; is what sends men off to war to be murdered, is what drowns women to decide if they are witches or not; is what kills over and over because, because, because... Male violence (any violence, but specifically male) seems to be centred very squarely on what another human being does to affect them: another person's actions have reduced this self to a subject - subject to how this other person acts. They are no longer what they make of themselves, but what another has made of them. Jealous, angry, possessive, etc.

Many New Age spiritualists seek to help people remove negativity, to learn to live in peace, in the now and not in the future. We as human beings must decide how we pursue life on our own terms.