~ Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
(Source: what-sgoingon)
Feel the Nature by shadowtuga
(Source: staypozitive)
My most popular post is also one of my most disappointing and frustrating. People have taken this far too seriously. It’s dumb, really. It gets passed around with the title “Society Kills Individuality” as if there was some sort of deep meaning and insight behind it.
This is a mindless, ill considered concept. The concept that society destroys individuality begs the question, which society? American? Russian? Chinese? Indian? All of them? If all of them, then can you really say it is society that destroys individuality (because we all live in a society therefore all individuality would be killed), or does society reflect some innate human need to organize for the greater good? Or perhaps individuality is greatly overrated?
If the concept being presented is that only american or western society destroys individuality, I would advocate that this is blatantly false. American society is one in which the success and freedom we have encourages more individuality than most any other culture. We go out of our way to be tolerant of other styles and approaches to things, and be accepting of differences, so much so that most states have mandatory training for all employees of corporations on being tolerant and accepting of cultural, gender, sexual, religious, racial and other differences. Other societies are far, far less tolerant. Just ask the 75 million killed under Mao in China, or the 30 million in Russia under Stalin, or the Jews in Iran…
Instead, I would say that society enables individuality. By increasing efficiency and prosperity in a cooperative social environment, we lift ourselves above the level of just scrabbling for our next meal. Society enables the resources and free time that allows us to exercise our individuality, as well as enabling those who wish to be productive in artistic and individualistic ways.
Now, we can argue some of the points I have made, there is room for disagreement. But can you see how a simplistic cartoon like this one takes the concept of society and individuality and reduces it to just that: a simplistic cartoon? It has little or nothing real to say about anything. It is just a cute cartoon that people mistake as being deeply meaningful. It’s about a building that acts as a giant meat grinder and takes people, mushes them and makes them into robots.
You might as well ascribe great meaning to The Human Centipede.
