Radical Groupism

Radical Groupism

Groups dominate our lives. They are the core functions of society and are what are used to refer back to when anything in life begins getting bad. A group can range in size of course; a family of two is a group, while an entire culture could also be considered a group. The most important feature of a group however is that it has a selective culture which can be considered at least partially unique.

We can view ourselves as a large school of fish. Always turning left or right on instinct alone. Sometimes we do not even need a leader in this society; it helps; but it isn't always nesscary. This is because people know their role with in the collective group and find a way to fit in. Sometimes there are other people who 'swim away' forming new groups or who turn the wrong way and get lost; or get stronger.

With this in mind it should be noted that there are of course millions upon millions of groups with in society past and present. History is not the rule of individuals but the groups who followed those individuals. George Washington was useless without the thousands of soldiers who fought at his side during the American Revolution. Whats this mean? It means that groups are the core of all idealism, thinking, and most important personal identity.

Idealism
Idealism comes from the basic concept of a group. An idealist will come to accept the ideal features of the group or groups from which they grew up in. There is in no sense an individual in these terms, but idealism defines who shines and who falls back into the group. Some people take the idea of their group as a maximization of their time. At work they may just perform to get by to support another group. Meanwhile another individual will work their collective ass off to get noticed. This in many ways is a form of radical groupism in my own opinion. The individual who works hard to look good to the group actually is doing nothing more then following classical patterns. It is this idealist structure which allows groups to grow from two people to large sizes; and it is this sense of being the ideal member of a group which drives the individual to stay, and more importantly participate to a maximum level.

This can be seen in many examples. The whole idea of a rag to riches story revolves around the idea that individuals will persue the ideal in order to get noticed. What is money without the fame behind it? Being able to be recognized as a rich person in the culture/group helps show that the person who attained the area has actually attained a position of the ideal. In this sense OTHER people are also attempting to attain this ideal; and in doing so will either fail or succeed. Yet the most important part of this is the basic understanding that idealism drives other idealism, and success will be overemphasis with in the group, while failures will be brushed under the table to the public eye.

Thinking
Collectively we have no individual thoughts. Instead most thoughts are influenced by who and what we were introduced too while younger or through the groups we decide or are forced to participate in. To understand this one must look at how people talk about themselves. Very few people use the idea of I, or me. Instead individuals will find themselves talking about how their group finds society; "We RED BLOODED AMERICANS believe in killing deer with 50mm sniper rifles." Of course this is not logical in a number of senses. It is something that has been influenced by the thinking of the group on the thinking of an individual. This would not however be the common term of, "group think!" Group think is much different in a number of ways.

Individuals with in a group may still raise objections and critically view their relationships with others. They will not always agree on what is said. This said arguing with in a group is almost like arguing with in ones self. There are no external feelings or arguments which interrupt the thinking process. In doing so no new ideas come in; but once again this is ideal. Since individuals are complex and deal with the world in a number of ways they will be part of a large number of groups. In doing so the individual has the chance to think in a unique way due to the combination of groups which they exist in. However they are not in anyway acting in a way where they have freedom or an individual process.

Personal Identity
The personal identity of a human being is defined by which groups he or she is apart of. People will never find their own identity on their own. Instead they must go through groups; be it large or small, few or many, in order to find their way in society. By viewing how this process goes about one can look at a child being born into an affluent family. Their only interaction with their group could be said to be a nanny and their family members. Given this situation the child may go to school with a very arrogant view of the world, "You mean not everyone has nannies, and two parents who stay at home?" This is of course the idealism of the group speaking out in the arrogance of youth. However the shaping of an individuals personal identity becomes complicated to track and understand once they begin interacting with the world as a whole. So much so that it is almost useless to bother working out the personal groups an individual has been part of. Even without being able to find every group that a person has been part of one can still trace their own personal identities to the groups which they accepted or completely rejected (for other groups.) A righteous person may pull away from a group of atheists at school because their personal identity is so different for example. In many ways this shapes their own identity. By finding that they do not associate with a certain group they are usually conforming to a specific set of standards which are usually labeled and outlined by a more powerful group in their life.

Radical Groupism is more then just this idea. It is instead a deep view about how humans interact and misunderstand each other in the realm of large groups of people. In many ways this can be studied in a sociological perspective, but it is also important to view the world in a philosophical and ideal path which can help some individuals better understand the world; or so their group says :).