These are my nasty little thoughts

No, the title is not a sex-related pun. What I meant was that I’m gonna try to leave some nasty and bad thoughts on the table and hopefully behind me (Fat chance, some might say). At least, from a cold, rational point of view, they are nasty, bad and dangerous for my mental and emotional health, but maybe they could mean something else too. Maybe a secret desire, a wish, something I’m not happy about… The possibilities are not endless, but most unknown.

I’m sick and tired of hearing everyone preach about how a man is not an island, how he’s not a complete self-sustainable individual, free to do as he or she pleases. “A man needs other men to understand life and find his purpose within society”, they say. It’s not that I disagree entirely with that idea. It’s just that it sounds too artificial and control-freakish to me, and I feel it diminishes and underestimates the whole current state of evolution (both social and individual) man has reached in the last two centuries. We have come to see that individualism, in various states of manifestation, is not just a theory for anarchism, liberty or whatever anyone might think individualism stands for. It’s not JUST a theory, its reality: We’re all living proof of that. It’s about one’s self-preservation and about the preservation of any thing anyone holds dear, such as family or others.

A man (and/or woman) is indeed an island, with its own climate, culture, ways of doing stuff and living life. And if for some coincidence, two individuals happen to share political, spiritual or cultural views, it’s only due to this same coincidence, especially nowadays. Never before in History have we lived an era so filled with options, (glorious) differences and various choices from where to guide our lives as we see fit. Liberty, therefore, does not come (only) from mere free thought or strength of will, but from the existence of options from where to choose the paths of our lives, along with the possibility everyone has to know them, accept or reject them and eventually exercise them. That’s why any over-controlling “authority” is the most unnatural thing in the world and as such, it’s an intolerable and potential evil and must be either eliminated or lowered to its very minimum. However, the idea of the “potential evil” (it would be too serious to use “inherent evil” this time, yet it serves the purpose just as well, or even better) any authority has within itself just for being an authority, is not an acceptable enough argument or excuse to stand in arms against it. As free individuals, we give others the freedom to choose their authorities or the lack thereof, wether it is their own minds, a book, an idea, a person or even God. No position or stance in the World is absolutely right or represents liberty better than the next one. There (must) can always exist a reasonable doubt.

However, and to continue the analogy, islands are not always a piece of land in the middle of the ocean, far from any possible civilization or contact with other people. Human nature, in my opinion, resembles something more like an archipelago, but never a continent or “mainland”. The importance of knowing is to realize the existence of “bridges” humans build between islands and even between archipelagos (A whole community is made of individuals who have come together under the same culture or cultural manifestation). These bridges are our connection to other islands, and so each bridge is unique, since every island is unique, even among archipelagos. Some bridges are stronger, more beautiful, more useful or more important than others, but all hold a special meaning or end for the builders of the bridge.

So, after considering this hypothesis or conception of humanity, the real question a person should ask is: ¿Why are there not enough bridges on my island? A man, in the end, needs other men to fulfill his own desires and reach his goals, so having as much bridges on one’s island, not immediately considering if they are strong, beautiful or even useful is an inherent need and desire, yet it is not a point that contradicts my point of view. You can’t force others to join others. Also, one should think of those people who are archipelagos all by themselves… Life’s not easy for them, yet their lives are everything but boring, and it’s not because others judge them as interesting or give their opinions about how boring or fun a person is for others to hear. Those lives are interesting and fun because those who live them have chosen to persist and resist in order to prove their worth to their own self, because self-preservation is the most natural instinct in human nature. Those that don’t matter too much or don’t represent a necessity are of little importance. Living for others and because of others is useless, dangerous, deceiving, frustrating and it eventually leads to emptiness and low self-esteem, or death (wether it’s physical death or psychological death). It is human nature to look after number one first, then after everyone else. Society is just a pact built by islands to remain as islands and still secure mutual support and help. Or maybe society can be seen as the effort individuals do, first for themselves, and then for the group.

Cheers!