I agree with everything Trueman says in that paragraph and with what West says in that excerpt, and yet I reject the recent turn the right has taken against individualism. To some extent, the left-right divide is the divide between collectivism (the left) and individualism (the right). I think there has been a lot of damage to individualism done by socially-left-wing ideas of equality and rebellion. I consider myself an individualist - in that I believe in free markets, private property, natural rights, individual freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. I prefer the personal to mass. I prefer the family to the state. Individualism tempered in religious belief and respect for tradition is the proper antidote to left-wing radicalism. Not “communitarianism” which was a left-wing thing until the last decade or so.
Finally, I think it’s insane to blame the chaos of the 1960s entirely on individualism when a lot of the radicals were in favor of abolishing private property and private families and went to go live on communes.
I would say, though, that the hippies, and a fair number of the radicals (which were two distinct groups in the 60s), were motivated by sticking it to square old mom and dad by embracing something exotic and foreign.
I would say though, that, at least the hippies, and also a fair amount of the radicals (which were two distinct groups in the 60s) were motivated by narcissism, the desire to stick it to square old mom and dad by embracing something exotic and foreign.
In some cases. My father was a hippie (turned 18 in 1969 and grew his hair long and protested the Vietnam war etc.) and he didn’t have a chip on his shoulder about his parents or anything. He did become somewhat jaded about other people’s motivations, which probably played into his later move to the political right.
I agree with everything Trueman says in that paragraph and with what West says in that excerpt, and yet I reject the recent turn the right has taken against individualism. To some extent, the left-right divide is the divide between collectivism (the left) and individualism (the right). I think there has been a lot of damage to individualism done by socially-left-wing ideas of equality and rebellion. I consider myself an individualist - in that I believe in free markets, private property, natural rights, individual freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. I prefer the personal to mass. I prefer the family to the state. Individualism tempered in religious belief and respect for tradition is the proper antidote to left-wing radicalism. Not “communitarianism” which was a left-wing thing until the last decade or so.
Finally, I think it’s insane to blame the chaos of the 1960s entirely on individualism when a lot of the radicals were in favor of abolishing private property and private families and went to go live on communes.
I would say, though, that the hippies, and a fair number of the radicals (which were two distinct groups in the 60s), were motivated by sticking it to square old mom and dad by embracing something exotic and foreign.
I would say though, that, at least the hippies, and also a fair amount of the radicals (which were two distinct groups in the 60s) were motivated by narcissism, the desire to stick it to square old mom and dad by embracing something exotic and foreign.
In some cases. My father was a hippie (turned 18 in 1969 and grew his hair long and protested the Vietnam war etc.) and he didn’t have a chip on his shoulder about his parents or anything. He did become somewhat jaded about other people’s motivations, which probably played into his later move to the political right.