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Identity -- whether it’s really as important as it Pretends
by sybil Monday, Dec 25 2017, 12:22am
international / prose / post

It ‘seems,’ a word I would be forced to use often here, that identity or a notion of a separate self is crucial not only to society but to its units, individuals, and note definitions of individual, all dictionary definitions reduce to, ‘a SINGLE separate Self as distinct from others or a group,’ indeed that should be the case, however, reality dictates it is not! And it should be noted that dictionaries avoid defining what it is that creates the difference.

Individuals in reality are defined by the particular rather than the common, the distinct rather than the homogeneous and on it goes, but does it work satisfactorily? We should all note at this stage that it is behaviour that really makes us distinct from others, physical characteristics run a very poor second or third to behaviour unless of course one is considered a ‘freak!’

Now note that whenever our distinct behaviour exceeds what is considered acceptable in any society that very distinct individual behaviour is then targeted by the regulatory, ideological and physical, apparatuses of the state/society to FORCE conformity, or to become more uniform or common. Therefore in reality individuality is intolerable/enemy to society or groups which of course cannot allow wide ranges of unpredictable, ‘unacceptable’ behaviour as it would disturb the status quo and/or may become infectious to the more tamed ‘individuals’ (sausages) or more accurately, uniform products of culture/society. Yet it is capitalist society that extols the virtues of individuality as freedom while at the same time endeavouring to contain all real distinctions, that’s freedom for you, freedom of course defined as containment, as is exactly what occurs in the United States -- ROFL!

So remember the more your privacy and distinctions are assailed by the capitalist state the more free you are, a perfect example of Orwellian double think/speak. So in reality real individuality is not tolerated, what is tolerated is uniformity to a design, and in America that design is slavery for the majority and freedom for the designers or ruling minority.

Nevertheless, as is evident, both categories, the common and individual, depend on a model, one radical the other conservative, or those that follow prescribed formulations. And so both categories are contained in social spaces whether they be open society, prisons or asylums which differ only in the qualitative sense. What subverts the structural integrity of this model is the OTHER, or completely foreign individual, which is the true definition of the SEPARATE.

For those still able to think outside the formulated box, this approach OPENS a door to other possibilities where for instance, real individuals do not seek to follow or lead, as those tendencies are “common” to a previously “defined” category. So, is it possible to have a non-particular/specific ‘other’ identity and successfully navigate/negotiate a contained/closed, regulated, oppressive society? Yes, indeed it is, though few are able to meet the challenge, as they find a false sense of security (comfort) in a group and lack COURAGE, the prime requisite of success in this case.

Real individuals require no ideological support or common behavioural ground/space like 'individual' sardines contained in a tin, and note that the support I speak of also takes the form of contained regulated social spaces as in prisons and asylums.

An identity which is constantly in flux, kinetic -- post-modernism on steroids -- like the continuous flow of nature or the cosmos, meets all the needs of that identity as it is supported by the creative process itself, which is perfect and perfection lacks nothing. It also allows for navigating the perverse or formulated oppressive ‘realities’ of various societies as spaces as wide as a chasm are easily detected whereas uniform subjects see nothing but superimposed walls, rules and laws, or socially mapped spaces, what they are taught and trained to see as 'products' of specific cultures -- all of which illusory constraints are of course arbitrarily man made/formulated.

There you go, you have the key to freedom in your possession, to BE outside the definitions and therefore mapped spaces of any society -- on condition of course that you have Courage, an indomitable Will and a very large dose of Creativity. Indeed, it is this type that has radically changed, in all fields of endeavour, society as a whole. You would also note that radically creative people are for the most part, OUTSIDERS.

I hesitate to state the following, as it may confuse and be rejected by most, but I continue for the sake of the very few potential heroes that understand and are ready to make the transition from the specific identifiable (enslaved) to the non-specific, continuous, truly FREE identity shared with infinity itself. You now see why I was disinclined to state a TRUTH that very few are able to apprehend and/or appreciate.