Breaking with “Self” in a Culture of “Me, Me, Me” Individualism
July 3, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
What really stood out to me in the excerpt was this notion of “self” in a culture of “me me me” individualism that is a result of capitalism and imperialism, especially in the U.S. & this whole idea of putting “America first” making people think we need to be putting ourselves first and basically saying “fuck you” to everyone else in the world. Or that our careers or “making it” in the system is the only real way we can make a change in it, which is absolute bullshit!
There does come a time when you confront reality and the truth and realize how toxic this system really is for everyone in the world, even for the people who benefit from it. The way this system teaches everyone to narrow their scope of the world and how that it’s so deep-rooted that selfishness is popularized as something innate or “natural” for human beings is so toxic and is a big part of what keeps people subjected to and perpetuating this system. It’s a completely toxic cycle that needs to be broken from if we really want to make a revolution. It’s so difficult to break from since it’s the very culture we live under, but it’s necessary since there’s no other way other than revolution and communism that will get rid of the horrors that capitalism-imperialism has created and continues to create.
Another important point that Ardea Skybreak makes is giving your heart to humanity, and any one single instance of white supremacy, patriarchy, exploitation, oppression, etc. is enough to want to make a revolution. And she is completely right. Every time I even see small instances amongst my friends or family getting hurt, or made to feel less than human because of who they are as women, as people of color, as gay, trans, as undocumented etc., it hurts me so much and every time I think to myself how much it does not have to be this way and is just more motivation for me to want to make a revolution and be a part of this and that’s just on a small scale.
On the larger scale, horrible things are inflicted on humanity every single day as a result of this system, and it can be seen on the news and these things are just accepted as the way things are. But no! This shouldn’t be the way things are, and all of the examples that Skybreak makes are the few of millions of examples, from fucked-up social relations to people getting murdered and killed.
I also really appreciated her comment on looking in the mirror and realizing that we know too much to not want to do something and to change society in a radical way for humanity. And it’s so easy to get pulled into our own personal lives and to carve out a comfortable niche under capitalism, or now fascism, but once you know that there’s a way out to all of this, how could you go back to being comfortable?
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