There's a long history of Americans viewing the US federal government with antagonism, almost like it were an occupying power; it manifests in a lot of ways- rugged individualism being one of them.
If you're looking for rugged individualists, you should start looking for places with similar federal government antagonisms.
A Scot you say? I'm not sure I believe you. Picts or it didn't happen.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
Simple Minded wrote:I think it means you can't be cloned, and, you have never submitted anything to Wikipedia, nor ever looked up anything on Wikipedia.
Am I right?
Maybe rugged individualists don't even mate and instead reproduce by fission.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
Simple Minded wrote:I think it means you can't be cloned, and, you have never submitted anything to Wikipedia, nor ever looked up anything on Wikipedia.
Am I right?
Maybe rugged individualists don't even mate and instead reproduce by fission.
Those are the rugged individualist collectivists. Which explains why they all look the same.......
YMix wrote:Rugged individualists are the crazies in the environment. I doubt that Amazonian tribals see themselves as anything other than members of small communities. The idea of individualism has probably not occurred to them.
Good point.
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:There's a long history of Americans viewing the US federal government with antagonism, almost like it were an occupying power; it manifests in a lot of ways- rugged individualism being one of them.
If you're looking for rugged individualists, you should start looking for places with similar federal government antagonisms.
That's an interesting observation.
Every country gets the government that they deserve.
In some countries, such as Japan and France, government service for the most highly educated is a traditional choice.
In the US, this seems to be the case in only the very highest levels of government.
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”
Parodite wrote:Mr.P. coined the term (in the polygamy thread) rugged individualism. What is a rugged individualist?
I imagine a rugged individualist as somebody who wants everybody mind their own business. S/he doesn't want to be interfered with. Live and let live, to each his own. Small central gvt etc.
Which is why Mr.P. puzzles me. No doubt he considers himself a rugged individualist. Yet he bothers a lot with other people, especially democrats, liberals and Obama. Why do they bother him so much? He could easily choose to don't give a damn about all the crazies in the environment. And just attend to his private property, his family and gun collection. Remain entirely indifferent to his wider environment, and just take it as any wider environment where you go hunting.
Indians in the Amazon live like that. The forest is full of enemies, juicy fruits and prey to hunt. No need to get political about it, hysterical, let alone paranoid-psychotic. It is pointless to talk to snakes or plants explaining them that their politics sucks. You would become the village fool of the rain forest.
I think that the American myth of the rugged individual is a creation of Madison Avenue:
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Today, all that is left is the pathological: paranoid preppers.
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:There's a long history of Americans viewing the US federal government with antagonism, almost like it were an occupying power; it manifests in a lot of ways- rugged individualism being one of them.
If you're looking for rugged individualists, you should start looking for places with similar federal government antagonisms.
That's an interesting observation.
Every country gets the government that they deserve.
In some countries, such as Japan and France, government service for the most highly educated is a traditional choice.
In the US, this seems to be the case in only the very highest levels of government.
Right. It's a caricature of course, but like all caricatures, it works by exaggerating a truth. America was founded upon and united by a political principle. You can go most other places and freedom means, primarily, a right to self-government. To an American, it almost always means freedom from government or, at the very least, government interference.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”
A true rugged individualist only has an ego.. not a "wego" alias group-ego. They only care about themselves.
However also groups - where people think almost alike and individual interests are aligned - can behave like one single rugged individualist. They only care about the group they belong to, mainly because their rugged personal interests are intertwined with those of others in that group. Labor unions are a good example of some very rugged individualist wego groups. Or any religious sekt, political parties.. or just a family..
For the recoerd, I don't think there is anything wrong with any form of rugged individualism. We all are rugged individualists.
So what does it mean to not be a rugged individualist? Is such a thing possible? I think it can be very dangerous to try and wanna be something else than a rugged individualist.
Parodite wrote:A true rugged individualist only has an ego.. not a "wego" alias group-ego. They only care about themselves.
However also groups - where people think almost alike and individual interests are aligned - can behave like one single rugged individualist. They only care about the group they belong to, mainly because their rugged personal interests are intertwined with those of others in that group. Labor unions are a good example of some very rugged individualist wego groups. Or any religious sekt, political parties.. or just a family..
For the recoerd, I don't think there is anything wrong with any form of rugged individualism. We all are rugged individualists.
So what does it mean to not be a rugged individualist? Is such a thing possible? I think it can be very dangerous to try and wanna be something else than a rugged individualist.
If we were all rugged individualists and behaved accordingly, we would all be dead... It's living in society and caring for each other that keeps us alive.
Parodite wrote:A true rugged individualist only has an ego.. not a "wego" alias group-ego. They only care about themselves.
However also groups - where people think almost alike and individual interests are aligned - can behave like one single rugged individualist. They only care about the group they belong to, mainly because their rugged personal interests are intertwined with those of others in that group. Labor unions are a good example of some very rugged individualist wego groups. Or any religious sekt, political parties.. or just a family..
For the recoerd, I don't think there is anything wrong with any form of rugged individualism. We all are rugged individualists.
So what does it mean to not be a rugged individualist? Is such a thing possible? I think it can be very dangerous to try and wanna be something else than a rugged individualist.
If we were all rugged individualists and behaved accordingly, we would all be dead... It's living in society and caring for each other that keeps us alive.
I would say a rugged individualist cares about himself and some others. Thats normal and good. To care about other members of the same group/society you belong to and are dependent upon is normal and necessary. That you don't care about other groups or even see them as adversaries/competitors is also good and normal. They are simply not part of your interest. But you sometimes have to deal with them; the question is only how.
People who pretend they "care" about others that are not part their own group of interest.. are usually a danger not only to others but even to the interest of their own group. There is a list with hundreds of examples where people do things because they supposedly care about others.. but the result is countless loss of life, destruction of wealth.