Individualism and its contradictions: when freedom turns into solitude

The cult of self that dismantles consumer society

We have reached a individual freedom unknown to any previous century. In exchange, the collective narratives that gave meaning to that freedom have evaporated. Technology allows us to build a personalized universe, and the void is filled with status: "let them see me," "let them admire me," "let me have more." That is the paradox: emancipation has become a new cage.

The dictatorship of performance

Individualism applied to daily life turns every facet into a competition. One example: a security guard criticized a waitress for her "performance" in an exercise routine. This is not a minor anecdote. It is the extension of professional performance into personal life. If you do not perform at your maximum, you are a failure. There is no rest, only stress about being "one's best version." It is a model some attribute to the American culture of the self, with its vacations without breaks and fragile bonds.

The return of the common good

Faced with this drift, the claim for the common good gains ground. Aristotle defined man as a "social animal" 2,500 years ago. Social reality precedes the individual: we are not born isolated but within relationships, language, and institutions. Postmodern relativism erodes the foundations of shared meaning and produces atomization, psychological instability, and loss of cooperation. We speak of a new kind of "idiot": the individual who only cares about private matters, disconnected from the common good.

Dissent is also defined in relation to the center it rejects. Without a norm, there is no transgression. The question remains open: how long will we tolerate this foolishness before the pendulum swings back toward the collective?