Individualism,

 

To me, it has become as clear as day, that Embodied Language (EL) is the language of true individualism and, therefore, of consciousness and humility, but Disembodied Language (DL), is the language of collectivism, sentimentality, superstition, pretense and cowardice. Sadly, the latter is the rule in every society. I write about EL in contrast to DL, so you can get a sense of what EL is. Individualism has taken its foothold in many countries, but it has yet to result in EL. Since it hasn’t done that – and couldn’t do that – there is no clarity of vision, as to where people are going with their so-called freedom. It is as true for Amerika, as for any other country, that escalation of chaos and conflict are the inevitable outcomes of our common way of talking, which has remained unaddressed.

 

Surely, there is false individualism, in which we are trying to have our way, at any cost. Generally, what people do, is to re-enact their punitive conditioning history in an unconscious attempt to understand. Of course, this always goes hand in hand, with the way of talking, which, presumably, we shouldn’t even be talking about. People feel very aggressive, when you point out their DL and will do anything to stop you. It is such a great taboo, to address DL, head on, as  everyone is, unknowingly, involved in it, every day. The divisiveness between left-wing and right-wing politics is explained by the fact, that the members of both views engage in DL, but pretend to have EL.

 

Politics is the inevitable, so-called group-think, that any country gets stuck with, as long as our way of talking hasn’t been properly addressed. Simply stated, DL is coercive speech, in which the speaker dominates the listener. This is the unintelligent way of talking, which is happening everywhere. With EL, however, we cannot force anything on anyone, not even on ourselves, but with DL, we force things on each other, but also on ourselves. When you, at long last, discover the difference between your DL and EL, you will have to admit to yourself, that you were doing many things, you didn’t want to do.

 

People get angry, irritated, distracted, depressed, frustrated, defensive, paranoid and confused all the time, but because of DL, they can’t talk and know about their own emotions. In EL, on the other hand, we express what we experience in the moment and we realize, that in our usual way of talking (DL), we are not allowing ourselves or each other to do that. In other words, the difference between DL and EL, is the fact that we are able to talk about our feelings.

 

Certainly, in the countries, where individualism has become embedded in the culture, a lot of talking about feelings has been going on, but none of all that emotional drama has ever resulted in EL. To the contrary, we have unknowingly become more emotionally manipulative, with our language and this has brought us to where we are today. Today’s fight for safe-space, equity or intersectionality, like the call for law and order or peace and justice, can’t address EL, our subtle way of dealing with language.

 

We’ve got to stop talking with each other, so that we can talk with ourselves. Then, and only then, can we talk with each other, in the same way, as we talk with ourselves. The so-called, golden rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” only applies, if we knew, how to treat ourselves, but as this typical Christian saying illustrates, it is all about the other, but never actually about how we interact with ourselves. Rules as these, are the biggest stand in the way for EL, as they create the impression, we already know about EL, but in reality, we have been conditioned by our common way of talking, by DL, to move and stay away from our own experiences. 

 

Everyone who has read a psychology book, knows that collectivist culture emphasizes the needs and goals of the group as a whole, over the needs and the desires of each individual. In such cultures relationships with other members of the group and the interconnectedness between people play a central role in each person’s identity. What you don’t hear anyone talk about, however, is that people were conditioned to be that way, which means, regardless of what they consider to be their so-called identity, they can become conscious about their conditioning history and want something else. Of course, we can change our identity, but this isn’t accomplished by superficial surgical interventions or by superstitious religious conversions, but by the necessary psychological change in our behavior from DL to EL, from relating to ourselves and each other in an emotionally reactive manner, to relating to ourselves and each other in mature, enlightened, wise, sensitive or rational manner. Also, it should be noted here, that people in collectivistic cultures are considered be good, if they are generous, helpful, dependable, and attentive to the needs of others. This contrasts with individualistic cultures, which often place a great emphasis on characteristics such as assertiveness and independence. However, in both cases, the other plays the central role in who people believe themselves to be, as DL dominates in both individualistic as well as collectivistic cultures.