r/DeepThoughts • u/StubbornSob • 11h ago
In a hyperindividualist, capitalist society, blame is naturally placed on the weakest individuals
Depression or anxiety? It's a mental illness, not society making you feel lonely or broke
Poor or unemployed? You're not trying jard enough or picked the wrong career instead of society not providing a safety net or the rich refusing to share a meaningful portion of their wealth.
Single or have few friends? Your standards are too high or you're not trying enough, or aren't social enough, rather than society shipping unattainable standards or making us bogged down in our phones instead of talking to another human being.
I'm sure there are plenty more examples. But blaming the weakest person makes perfect economic sense in such a setup, because there's always a potential cost you incur to your own social prospects, whomever you blame. And if you blame a higher-status person, that cost and the risk associated is higher. But if you blame the vulnerable individual, you minimize that, and since individualism is founded on being self-sufficient and neither needing others nor caring for them, since "nobody will save you" anyways (which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy), it's the option that is selected by default, and the resulting decisions by a multitude of individuals combine to maintain and reinforce the system.
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u/ReptilianRevolt 10h ago
Do you think that a collectivist society would be better? They also find a way to blame their weakest members.
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u/Rebelology 10h ago
They could acknowledge that there are environmental conditions that are the root causes of said problems....
Kinda happening in China/Asia , how they realising how over burdened they are with the idea of social service....
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u/JustRelaxItFits 5h ago edited 5h ago
This is called neoliberalism.
A certain person type is manufactured by it. Persons are no longer considered persons. They are enterprises where every single aspect of their life has a price tag.
This is very convenient in a capitalist society because everything is your fault as an individual.
When was the last time you were able to sleep or rest without thinking you are wasting your time?
That is by design.
And since you are your own enterprise, you are solely responsible for everything that affects you. You can seek help for it, but that means you can buy it. There is a solution for everything in a world where everybody is an enterprise.
As you can see this is extremely convenient for today's capitalist system. I say today's because there was a time where certain things were kept off limits from the tentacles of greedy markets. During Liberalism, personal assets, healthcare, home, education, food, those were respected and efforts were taken to provide some kind of support system that helped the collective stay above water. This is why we still have social security and medicare, Section 8 housing, SNAP, etc (in the US, that is); a dwindling list however as those are disappearing under neoliberalism.
In neoliberalism, everything is for sale. Not a single thing is a right.
Therefore you are the only one responsible for your success or demise.
This is of course very convenient for politicians because now they wash their hands of any hardship affecting multiple individuals. Problem with housing affordability? High costs of Gas? Food? Everything? oh you gotta hustle and battle it out, compete with others for the better deal.
Politicians are turned into permit issuer and sales people. Want to do something without any repercussions? Just pay a fee. Want to buy protected land? Oh there's a fee for that. The best personification of that politician is Mel Berntstein from the movie Scarface. And they'd like you to throw in two-way first class tickets to Europe cuz the wife's never been and he wants to take here there for the holidays.
Anyways. Do you think grandmas, women and children stand a chance in this system?
It's bullshit and it's bad for ya. Sleep tight, if you can.
Gotta protect the collective every which way you can. United we stand, divided we fall.
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u/Sirius_Greendown 9h ago
Great analysis and you’re absolutely correct! That attitude only poisons society over time. Technology can’t stop the rot. However, at least more people are realizing how warped our worshipping of hierarchy, money and violence truly is. And it’s driving some folks with strong ethical foundations to not have kids or at least delay them until they can outright purchase the peace, freedom and stability that every human deserves: new or old, rich or poor, black or white, smart or dumb, happy or sad.