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The Myth of Individualism
“We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves.” — Huxley
PART 1: FEELIN’ AlRIGHT?
There’s something strange brewing in the air. It’s as if the world had collectively experienced a bad trip and we are now in the process of trying our best to pretend it never happened. Presently, we stare into an uneasy future of ecological chaos, rising xenophobia, and economic uncertainty. The precariousness of our reality was briefly revealed. And, despite this, we nonetheless hope that we can just go back to business as usual. But the cat’s out of the bag. What was seen cannot be unseen. A collective humility has settled on the many who, with great conviction, once operated as isolated creatures and atomized beings. For better or worse, we now know that our lives are intimately entangled with the sloppy, stupid and strangely beautiful presence of others.
Of course, not all of us have conceded. Those against vaccination, for example, loudly protest against it on the basis of vaccines being an attack on their personal freedom of choice. They argue that it is a violent intrusion against their bodies, bodies that they have outright ownership over. However, as Zizek cynically responds: “as if our body is ever really just ours?…vaccinated or not, we are already controlled and manipulated in ways we are…
