Conformity: An Anarchist Perspective
05 03 08 - 08:03
Have you ever walked down the street or been in a mall and looked around to see all the people around you? Have you noticed that almost everyone can be classified into a stereotype because of their looks, personalities, convictions, ideas, passions, and character? This, comrades, is because the majority of the people in the western world fall victim to one of the greatest controlling devices used by the government against us: conformity. It is entirely against anarchist values to conform to anything in any and all aspects. When you dress, act, believe, support, speak, or behave a certain way to be accepted by a specific group or clique in hopes of becoming "accepted", you are falling victim to conformity. Conformity is one of the utmost pronouncements of weakness in character and in your strength as an individual. It is changing who you are to be accepted by people who, deep down inside, are not like you at all. Those who conform for their entire lives are most often shallow, lifeless, and weak-minded individuals, if you could even call them individuals as they have no unique traits in any aspect.
Most people (regular or "normal" people) will conform to what the government tells them to, through TV, the entertainment industry, magazines, religion, personality cults, etc. The government uses it as yet another weapon utilized to destroy freedom and our culture. If everyone was the exact same in every way, the human race would be lifeless, cultureless, without existence; we'd be one mass herd of mindless sheep to be sheered for the little productivity we would generate.
Some of you might say, "Hey, I might be able to fit into a stereotype, but the government doesn"t have anything to do with my choice!"
Wrong. Think about it for a second, how much easier is it to govern a population already conveniently segregated into different typicalities or stereotypes that you could easily market different aspects of your campaign (be that political or economic) to? How easy is it to say, "I'm a family man, Christian, and war hero," in order to gain the support of the typical stereotype and get elected? Wake up, people. A country is a lot simpler to run if the majority of the people conform to government propaganda.
Some of you might also say, "Wait a minute, isn't joining an organization like the AAI just another form of conformity?"
No, joining the AAI does not mean you conform to anything. In fact, our membership consists of a diverse group of individuals with beliefs in many different aspects and flavours of anarchism, and life in general. You might think that we're completely disorganized because of this, yet nothing could be further from the truth. In an Anarchist society, every community and every individual is at liberty to live in any kind of society they want, so long as all participating members are doing so by consent. You could even live in a society built around dictatorship, if you really wanted to. So long as you keep your convictions to yourselves, that you contribute to the whole as a functional part of society, and that you don't force your beliefs or stance on anyone else, that's ok. We might not agree with what you believe in, but as long as you keep it to yourself everything will be fine. Our group upholds this ultimatum in truth: the whole before the few. Merely by being different should not stop us from cooperating and working toward a common goal.
So what can you do instead of conforming? Be independent, be smart, and be adventurous. Try new things, go beyond your current social clique, and expand your life to include things that you were afraid to try before. Try being an actual person, instead of just what they tell you to be.
This is the only life we're ever going to have, so try to live it your own way for a change.
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