Let’s say you’re flying carefree! All of a sudden you’re smacked by a giant fly swat and come crashing down. That’s what happens when you lose your individualism. You miss what makes you tick.
Loss of individuality happens in a 3-step process. People feel oppressed, lose their passion, and conform to all the pressures. They lose their special individual qualities. Concepts such as groupthink result.
Throughout this article, we will explore how your exceptionality disappears. You don’t want to wake up one day wondering what happened to your soul. Read below to prevent losing yourself.
Oppressed Populous and Self
All through history, oppression took many forms. Watching the nightly news is a great reminder of the persecution people face daily. Let’s discuss how you feel oppressed. This is the first step to losing individuality.
Within Yourself
Here are some examples of how oppression starts on a personal level:
- Toxic friendships
- Bad relationships with family
- Bullying
At first, you fail to recognize your lost personality. Because this violates one of the principles of individualism- Losing your “sense of self”. Your confidence and walking with purpose disappear.
Keep your “You” philosophy. Separate yourself from these situations at the first signs of danger.
If you’re wondering what are the core principles of individualism, read my article.
Group Oppression
Here are some scenarios of demoralized people in groups:
- Tyrants in countries silencing the public
- Denial of individual rights
George Orwell- a famous English novelist- described oppression this way:
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face- for ever.”
George Orwell- 1984
His book 1984 is one of the best examples of human oppression. If you haven’t read it, you must.
He describes the terror characters felt for their safety emphasizing their despair. They couldn’t trust their best friend. Oppression denies you basic joy resulting in the slow demise of individuality.
An organization named the “Ministry of Truth” spread propaganda. This establishment became a play on words. Their actions erased parts of history and censored messages threatening their power. Calling it the “Ministry of Lies” is a more accurate name.
For those in oppressive situations, trust with caution. Citizens in 1984 wished they would’ve.
Karl Marx’s ideology is all about oppression. LEARN MORE about Marxists downright hatred for individualism.
Loss of Passion and Sunshine
What wakes you up every morning? I’ll wait for your answer…
It is your passion for life.
Oppression started you on an awful journey. By now, your transformation to the dark side is well underway.
Loss of Passion on a Personal Level
If you remember happier times, some of your passions included:
- Painting
- Reading great novels
- Playing your favorite sport
- Spending time with your family
- Jamming to music privately in your bedroom
Passions give you purpose and excitement. I love waking up every morning to work on my blog. I savor the satisfaction of delivering the message of a liberty preacher.
Oppression lowered your guard causing you not to seek joy. In response, you stopped following your life passions. Step by step this degraded your individuality to a mere speck.
Loss of Passion in Groups
Groups celebrate shared passions of:
- Any type of hobby or club
- Political activist movements
- Intermingled friend groups
Going back to the Orwell example, Winston-the main character- lost many of his passions in 1984. One of his favorite activities included walking in the forests. He met his love interest named Julia. Winston attempted to share his passion for forest walks with her.
But their walks grew trickier the more oppressive the regime became. A secrecy developed around their strolls. In the end, Winton surrendered his passion as the regime grew more restrictive. This meant no more walks. Their tragic love story concluded with an unhappy “termination”.
This leads us to our next and final step to the loss of individuality- conformity.
Conformity-The Enemy to Individuality
Conformity is the biggest step to losing your individuality. The process of losing yourself is complete.
What is conformity?
According to Britannica, conformity is a means of changing your principles, politics, and perceptions to align with the groups you want to join. You also want their approval and are willing to alter your behavior.
In other words, you do actions never thought possible.
Your Personal Conformity
Let’s state the obvious!
There are restrictions within society where you will have to conform. For instance, you won’t cuss as much in front of your grandparents or at work. That’s conformity.
When I discuss losing your independence, you lost your sense of liberty and no longer make your own decisions. An individualist has “common sense” and can snap out of a trance caused by absolute conformity. Think of a zombie. They’re mindless.
Actions you take to conform:
- Hurting others
- No individual thoughts
- Compromising your morals
Being an individualist requires morals. And if you compromise them to conform, you’re no smarter than a sheep about to run off a cliff.
This is the final step to losing your individuality. You must wake up to stop your transformation into a zombie or else.
By the end of 1984, Winston became a zombie and 2+2=5, not 4. The regime repeated the exercise of stating “2+2=5” over and over again to brainwash him. They robbed Winston of his independent thought and reason.
Don’t let it happen to you!
Which would you pick? Individuality or Conformity? It is a battle for the soul of America. LEARN MORE and read my article comparing individuality vs conformity.
Conformity All-Around
Group conformity is another scary concept we need to address. This is truly a collectivist mentality.
Collectivists and communities are different. Communities share a purpose for the common good of the individual and the group. Collectivists blindly follow the group without a sense of right or wrong. This is also known as groupthink.
Actions taken by groups under the direction of groupthink:
- Mob violence
- i.e., Violent protests, gang initiations
- Follow the leader at all costs
- I.e., Charismatic cult leaders for evil purposes
- Turn on former friends
- I.e., Friends-gone-wild
As you see, the consequences of groupthink are harmful. No one wins when groups become submissive. The leader is the one with the backbone and no one else. You lose your individualism at a cost to yourself and to others.
Blind allegiance leads to disaster. Group conformity is the reason.
Conclusion
At what costs do people lose their individuality? How does it happen?
There is a three-step process to losing individuality:
1. Being Oppressed
To start the process of your demise, you must first feel like a burden to society. This includes losing your “sense of self”- a core principle to individualism.
2. Loss of Passion
Do you love those unique feelings of awe and wonder? I know you do. Because they’re feelings of passion.
Once you lose them, they’re hard to return without major work. They started to disappear when some outside force started oppressing them.
3. Conformity- The Final Step and Biggest Obstacle to Individuality
“Following the crowd” is the simplest way to summarize this point. Doing what everyone does breeds mediocrity and a lack of personal responsibility.
The process of becoming a subject and not a citizen of a country is complete once you’ve reached this stage.
All 3 steps cause you to lose your freedom at the expense of your safety. You no longer can think for yourself once you lose your individuality.
I know without a doubt you’re reading this because you suspect it’s happened to you. I hope you walk away with an understanding of the implications of losing yourself.
What step in this process do you suspect yourself to be in?
2+2=4, NOT 5!!!!!!!
J. Liberty
Photo Credit:
© EricFalco via canva.com
Leave a Comment