Individuals and Groups
1. A group is an association of individuals, formed when a collection of people identify with each other and as a whole. Any set of individuals with a sense of togetherness can be considered a group. The group and its interests are the aggregation of the individuals in it and their interests.
2. The group is an imaginary collective that exists only in the minds of individuals. it has no real existence and has only as much meaning as individuals give it. A group is nothing without individuals and is not a separate entity in itself. Nor is it created by or ordained from nature — the groups are created by humans.
3. Groups are voluntary associations of individuals, which means that individuals have a choice in being part of them. It is the individual’s wish as to which groups they want to be a part of, and no one else has the right to make that decision for them. Yet all too often individuals are forced into groups by society in clear violation of this freedom. Group identification is an expression of individual liberty and is not supposed to constrain this liberty.
4. When individuals join a group out of free will, they can choose to give up some of their rights to that group, and to become subordinate to it. Only when the individual makes this decision is it valid for the group to take precedence over the individual; otherwise, individual rights are sacrosanct for groups. This subservience of the individual is a matter of clear consent and not to be assumed as a natural feature.
5. Groups cannot force individuals to identify with them. Being part of groups is a large part of individuals’ interaction with society. To force an individual into a set of groups is monstrous tyranny, for the individual has lost all social liberty except to interact within those groups. Nor can groups be assigned to someone from birth-when the individual is in no condition to make a rational choice, it cannot be said to be voluntary. As stated earlier, no external authority has the prerogative to force an individual into a group.
6. Individuals can, and have the right to, leave and enter groups freely. Well, maybe some groups can impose conditions on entry, but no one outside this interaction should have any say in that. And no group under any condition can stop an individual from leaving it and forcing him or her to stay in it, for that would be a violation of the individual’s consent. Individuals are not permanently confined to the groups they belong to.
7. Groups are only superior to individuals if the latter voluntarily subordinate themselves to the former. Yet with many groups it is the case that the individual is forced not only to be part of a group but to submit to its authority and give up rights to it from the very instant of their birth. There has to be consent and rational decision-making by the individual and so groups are not superior to individuals from birth.
8. A group does not enjoy any superiority over an individual by virtue of greater numbers as well. Surely those who suppose the contrary wouldn’t want any five people bursting into their house and depriving them of their rights because of numerical advantage. For that matter, no one would ever want to join a group that abuses its power to violate individual rights.
9. Whatever the relationship between a group and the individuals inside it, it has no precedence over the rights of those outside. As shown in the preceding section, groups enjoy no superiority over an individual outside it because of numbers. So in case of a conflict of rights, the group is treated just like a collection of individuals against another individual with no advantage or precedence.
10. The group is not the source of individual rights. Collectivists and communitarians often believe that rights flow from, are granted by, or are protected by the group and that the individual has a duty to the group in threatened. The fundamental rights of individuals-freedom, justice, equality-do not in any way originate from the group which has no existence apart from the individuals in it. And the individual has no obligation towards any group in the name of these rights. Whatever be the source of rights, they would not come to the group first and then given to the individual. Only in the case of those social rights which a group provides does the individual have a reciprocal duty.
11. There is frequent debate on individualism versus collectivism, which remains unresolved because of the benefits of both. Different people may receive immense value from either of them. But there is an intermediate state of belonging to a small group and caring only for its welfare. This combines the selfishness and narrow focus of individualism with the subordination and loss of freedom of collectivism. It benefits neither the individual nor humanity. But it nevertheless remains a choice of free will and should not be restricted.
12. When an individual is assigned their groups from birth, they are not bound to stay in the group they never chose or to follow its traditions which they never accepted. But all too often (especially with nationalities and ethnicities) groups claim that individuals have their ‘roots’ in them. Individuals must always remain attached to them and cannot truly leave them behind. But groups are not the soil in which individuals are rooted. All individuals have their roots in the common soil of humanity, and the group is the forest around them.
13. Individuals can also choose to have no group, and there is nothing wrong about that. It is not and must not be compulsory for an individual to belong to some or the other group (as is the case with nationalities). An individual can choose not to have a group identity and to be independent, and society should respect and abide by that decision.
14. And an individual cannot be persecuted for their choice of being group-less. Too often it happens (like refugees without nationalities) that individuals without groups are mistreated by society or denied dignity and rights. Those who prefer groups have no right to enforce their beliefs on others in this way. It is an unjustified violation of human rights and must be put to a stop.
15. Belonging to a group does not change or affect individual equality. An individual does not gain any special status as part of a group but remains equal to all other human beings. Even groups do not have any innate hierarchy of superiority between them. So an individual cannot claim to be dominant or marginalized, privileged or underprivileged, just because of their group identification. And no one can be discriminated against or treated specially because of their group affiliation.
16. The individual has an individuality apart from their group identities, a part of their self which is completely their own. This individuality cannot be given away by the individual to the group, and the group cannot take it away if it ever tries. There is some individualism in even the most extreme collectivist, which motivates people to do some things they would not have done otherwise and helps them maintain a sense of self, of being someone in themselves.
17. The group is not the source of the individual’s identity. Groups as associations of individuals provide interaction and identification, but they are not so overbearing as to become their identity. A person’s identity is who they are, they are thinking, their character — and not the groups they belong to. An individual is far more than just the sum of their group identities.
Originally published at https://www.theextraterrestrial.blog on June 9, 2021.
