The Selfishness of the Selfless / The Independence of the “Inter-dependent”

While the concept of the group, the collective, or “society” has a valid essence it is equally true that individuals exist in their own right. One inevitably chooses where one's allegiances are more closely allied and it is from there that one's stance on a million and one issues and perspectives can be extrapolated. Ironically, those who value group orientations tend to – themselves – be typically individualists, but not in the conservative sense.

The socialist/collectivist tends to have all the elements of selfishness, ego, and delusional arrogance that they often imagine and project on to those who honestly acknowledge their preference for individualism. Yet, for all their self-absorbsion, the collectivists' lip service is always for “the people, “the oppressed,” and “society” (or at least those parts of society they haven't selected for punishment). While such “individuals” often see themselves as a just and unique force for good to be unleashed, they typically see most others as philistines to be subdued. The dichotomy of right and left is more one of hypocrisy and lack of self-honesty on the part of collectivists then any real identification with favored levels of group affinity.