Humans are a social species.
Gregariousness varies from person to person. I, personally, am extremely introverted, avoid crowds, and dislike small talk.
In a lot of modern social movements, you're effectively given a choice between left-wing-flavored collectivism or right-wing-flavored collectivism.
Meanwhile, actual individualists keep getting screwed over because other people are voluntarily surrendering their right to
be an individual in the first place.
The worst part about Orwell's Ingsoc is that people are just plain getting down on their knees and begging for it. They don't have the conviction to
be sovereign individuals. With the collectivizing potential of modern technology, this is a dangerous concoction indeed for those of us who actually do value our relative autonomy.
For instance, I wouldn't be so firmly opposed to the concept of the Internet of Bodies if I actually was some sort of collectivist. In that case, the idea of everyone just being nodes in a network, inextricably linked together, telegraphing our needs to nanny AI and having our impulses tweaked to better align with the goals and purpose of the collective would actually appeal to me. But because I
am individualist, it does not.
This is not universal, I understand. For instance, I'm sure
Humphnaegal would
love being reduced to a borg drone if it made him feel safer than the alternative of being surrounded by
dangerous, individualistic monsters who could
kill him with engineered viruses, in spite of the fact that reality has shown us that the worst things come from
institutional power run amok and not
lone wolf basement tinkerers.
Other people being accepting towards collectivism is something that ends up limiting my own personal freedoms. For instance, the right to own a firearm in the US. If enough people decide that owning firearms is a social ill, or a public health issue, and they voluntarily surrender their right to the nanny state, then that impacts
my ability to own firearms even if I want it, personally, for myself.
In other words, it is in my interest to promote individualistic beliefs.
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