Social Individualism
It has been my experience that ground-breaking, history making ideas start off rather insubstantially. One person thinks of something which meets my own thoughts at a tangent. And I, being who I am, am able to see the bigger picture and come up with the above mentioned g-b,h-m ideas.
So it was, today. Anand and I were chatting. It was then that an idea for the future was born. An Idea so Radical and World-Changing, you will not have seen before. Why, even the other halves and the typist-masses haven’t thought of it before. (And you must agree, anything that’s good for the Human Race and the Great Society has been a patented invention of the Half-lifes. Us tiny individualists are only so much clutter.)
So, anyway, let me present a snippet of our conversation:
Anand: yeah… in fact, wanted to discuss with you
me: ?
Anand: libertarians are somehow losing out on the rhetoric space because as you know those who seek illogic, do not appreciate libertarian ‘logic’. so, we’re losing out to the commie…
me: Ah, I get you. Since I am the least logical of the cartelians, I indulge in some rhetoric
Anand: of course, that does not mean we have to become illogical rhetoricians ourselves, but at-least have a bit of aym gramd
me: I could be cut out for that. Especially with my copywriting background, my Tamil pedigree (and its irony)
Yes, yes.
I shall be the Karunanidhi of Libertarians
Anand: sometimes, believe it or not, we kinda alienate people… i did, today, and that did not feel good.
me: Who?
Anand: a commie on the other hand does not alienate people and so , his version of logic sells
some people at work
me: Yes. I see a great future in Aym-Gramdish libertarianism
Leninistic Randism – That’s what I will call my new school or thought
Anand: tis already been done, it is called the american dream
me: Social Individualism
Anand: the problem right now is that american in a bad word
me: Social Individualism – how does that sound?
We all agree Man cannot be an Island unto himself
But can’t he be a Peninsula?
Anand: ithu romba over… enough of water talk
me: Thani Manidan, Thanni manidhan
It is brilliant, I say
Anand: n’gotha
me: I am a natural
Anand: ayyo… nilu’ve thevalai
So, there you have it dear people. The new version of Bleeding Heart liberals. The Bleeding Brain Libertarians. Welcome to Social Individualism.
Update: I erred. Gravely. I missed out giving a link to the great Nilu who originated the concept of Aym Gramd. Saari saar. I am very apologies. You the happy now?
About
Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan is a copywriter, photographer and goofball from Chennai. He is also an archaeologist, historian and a city lover. He is currently a documentary film-maker and desk-monkey for a film production house.
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October 6th, 2006 - 21:16
For folks who are interested, here’s the part CC forgot to add.
Chandrachoodan: It is only a matter of time before you wake up to my ideas
me: ippa thaan coffee kudichiya?
Chandrachoodan: 3 minutes ago
me: athan, ezhutthula theriyithu
Chandrachoodan:
me: seri po… naan ippa escape
head is valiching slightly
Chandrachoodan: But you must agree that Social Individualism and peninsula and thanni manidar is a brilliant idea
Wogay
me: otha mayiru idea
Chandrachoodan: Hangover, avvalavu thaan
that why head valiching
have some tomato juice
me: two screening today
tomato?
venam
apparam thanni sunni nu ethavathu solluve
Chandrachoodan:
Takkali Pangali
me: okkali
Chandrachoodan: Adhu adutha level
Takkali Okkali
I am going to blog this conversation
me: ayyooo… my gaad
Chandrachoodan: You want to, too?
me: enakku thalai valiye pthum
poothum
tata!
Chandrachoodan: Bye
I’m blogging it
writing it up now
October 6th, 2006 - 22:12
you actualy chat about these things?
October 6th, 2006 - 22:33
En commenta ithu thunnidcha?
October 6th, 2006 - 22:46
Illa ba. Mellavum mudyaama, muyingavum mudyama tavichidu. ippo tupidchu
November 21st, 2007 - 11:06
Cool, nice to see I’m not the only Social Individualist in this world. You are quite correct when you see the commies tend to beat us their illogic and still get the points for being “social” (despite being mean actually).
Man (and woman) was born to live free with a responsibility for himself and his neighbour. That is what we must remember.
April 12th, 2011 - 06:36
People are inherently compassionate. We are social animals. This doesn’t transfer to politics. In a laissez faire society, charity will rise and soar.
June 28th, 2011 - 00:06
Social Individualism – It was taught two thousand years ago by a Jewish Rabbi
In 1917, a little known religious scholar, Charles Foster Kent (you can Google him), wrote about the study of the teachings of Jesus and His “social individualism”.
The following title and quotes can be found on p. 198 in his book, The Social Teachings of the Prophets and Jesus.
Jesus’ Doctrine of Social Individualism
With the extreme socialistic position, which tends to relieve the individual of his personal responsibilities and to treat men in the mass rather than as distinct personalities, Jesus had no sympathy. The doctrine of man which he set forth conserves all that is significant in both individualism and constructive socialism.
It may, indeed, be designated as social individualism. He advocated the largest degree of individual freedom. His whole effort was to deliver men from the bonds of wrong beliefs, evil habits, baseless fears, and all the unnatural restrictions which conventional religion and organized society had built up around them.
Well has the Fourth Gospel voiced his purpose ( Jn. 832):
You shall know the truth,
And the truth shall make you free.
No teacher in human history worked more earnestly to secure full liberty for the individual than did he; but none emphasized more strongly man’s social responsibilities. He taught that it was impossible for a man to express himself fully except in the service of his fellows. Liberty with him was freedom to serve.
That individualism which expresses itself in self-indulgence or license or in selfish exploitation of others means not freedom but bondage for the individual himself as well as for his victims. Man’s most valuable right is the right to contribute to the well-being of society.
The majority of Jesus’ teachings, therefore, are devoted to defining the individual’s social responsibilities. Paradoxical though it may seem, he claimed for each man a larger liberty than the most ardent individualist could ask. At the same time, he laid on the individual social responsibilities which make the demands of socialism seem mild indeed.
THE SOCIAL TEACHINGS OF THE
PROPHETS AND JESUS
BY
CHARLES FOSTER KENT, PH.D., LITT.D.
WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1917
Questia – The Online Library of Books and Journals
Online Books by Charles Foster Kent
(Kent, Charles Foster, 1867-1925)