Hyper-Individualism is a Capitalistic Mass Media Construct
Ayn Rand, in her writing, made a case for hyper-individualism – the hedonistic concept of self-service that has proved
an able ally to consumerism and close-minded selfishness. The phenomenon of hyper-individualism basically
encapsulates the growing human tendency to trivialize all human aspirations apart from their own.
In a hyper-individualistic society, each person lives with the sole aim of looking out for themselves. For example, rich will want to lower the taxes paid by them,
and increase the taxes paid by their poorer employees even though
these employees are far less capable of supporting such a burden; simply because they are more concerned with
their wealth than the fiscal survival of others’. Similarly, hyper-individualism would promote wasteful business
practices at the cost of environmental sustainability, as the desire of the businessmen would take precedence the preservation of our life-sustaining environment.
Thus, by its very definition, it is an anti-thesis of the Leftist philosophy. Liberalism and Leftism are based on a very
unmistakable foundation of empathy and equality. All liberal agendas sprout from the desire to achieve equality, least equal opportunity, amongst all persons.
The good of a few cannot be used as justification for implementing policy that is harmful for a large number of people either now or in the future.
Therefore, it is not only inconsistent, but also impossible, to promote the Leftist ideologies in a hyper-individualistic
manner. In fact, this would not be promoting the Leftist philosophies at all – as the motivation to do so is borne selfish desire to change
circumstances to your advantage rather than foster an era of social inclusion. The liberal stands alone and
works alone is no better than the greedy capitalist who acts selfishly towards his own ends.
There can be no Leftism without participation – for it is the spirit of protecting the people that leads to the formulation
of Leftist doctrine. The Leftist who stands alone not only fails to promote that spirit, but also exposes his greedy selfish purposes.
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