That's well argued. I was going to leave it for the morning but I'll continue it now.
It's true that the collectivist ideologies contain certain societal dominance but dominance does not necessarily equal to strength. In my experience it is not people who support these ideologies that gain real, hard power sans grift (Black Lives Matter, Nikole Hannah-Jones;etc.). When I speak of power and strength I speak of self empowerment too. Not just hard power that is quantifiable. I, as an individual, deserve to have my opinions and individuality respected. I am more than a black person, or someone of my class, sex, or my religion. Where collectivist ideologies stray is when they exert their power on the individual. The human, always seeking his own freedom, will reject the collectivist thought. Essentially, a collective without individualism is inherently self defeating no matter what strength they happen to convey and the human spirit will always burn to rebel against it.
Take progressive thought. They currently are transforming the Democratic Party and politics in general. You could, as you've surmised, posit that they have cultural power and therefore are strong. But they also present their ideas as the only solution.and despite their clinging to the doors of their own orthodoxy, they experience loss after loss after loss because of their unwillingness to compromise. Despite gaining in popularity with a subset of people they aren't truly politically strong. No one is running out to buy EVs besides a small number of rich people. Parents are openly backlashing against Critical Race Theory and sexual/gender politics being shoved into schools to the point where entire states such as Virginia are flipping to reject progressivism. It's a niche. Just because they're loud doesn't make them strong.
There is a case to be made for collectivist framework among groups of people. A big part of the reason Asian-Americans and African Americans (actual Africans) are so successful is because of their tight knit communities. The same is true for Jewish communities. I've experienced the same within Islamic communities. So there's a case to be made for some soft collectivism and looking out for your own. The trouble is when this collectivism turns into a form idolatry of the self, whether in a racial or gender lens. While those that paint themselves as victims are certainly gaining a certain clout rewarded for their identity that's mostly within their own communities. In the real world where they lack hard power, they are weak and aren't progressing to self sufficiency the way others are. The people I know the most well off, the most free, are those that worked their asses off in the pursuit of the belief of their own abilities. The others merely complain.
And as progressivism increases in popularity notice too that people are more comfortable being mediocre. Progressivism helps promote a weak society. Yes, they might have social clout within their sphere but culture is also stagnant because it doesn't instill a culture of risk. Covid and its aftermath being a great example. Through their fear of Covid progressives and liberals have caused delay in children. Overuse of masks in schools has delayed these children's educations. Kids are stumbling with reading and are said to be years behind in schooling. Overly coddled children leads to weaker children, and an overly coddled society that overly relies on government, the collective, or the group leads to a weak society.
No matter what you say about this man's legacy or the fact he made the government larger during his tenure as President, the idea still sticks with me.
Fuck big government. Thanks for opening my eyes Covid and NYC. I agree with your suppositions of the state.
That being said, your post is something I can consider. I simply do not find making yourself an endless victim to be self empowering. On the contrary, I find it to be very pathetic.
You started to approach this as you turned towards individualism but I think it doesn't speak to strength being relative and to many people that means the power they can wield in society, collectivist ideologies (progressivism, Trumpism, etc.) deceive because they claim by submitting your individuality to The People you will have more power since you will be aligned with society.
Please rephrase.
Also, I do not want to live in the Midwest to get away from progressives. I could stay in Texas and do that. I want cheap living, access to good education for my future family, four seasons, and down to Earth culture.
Look at one of your pet concerns, trans issues. It's now pregnant person, ACLU rewriting RBG quotes and demanding books be destroyed, claims of genocide when women claim womenhood as exclusive to females, etc. You yourself claim that the "gay agenda" has taken over everything. How is this not strength? Shouldn't you support them since they're constantly displaying strength? Instead you reject their strength and align with conservative weakness, appealing to select friendly states and locals to protect you from the all-powerful agenda.
This is true. There's more to this world than strength, though. There's also right and wrong. Morals. And "birthing people", letting men take over or speak for women, and refashioning women's quotes to fit narratives is morally wrong as it strips women of their womanhood. It is true that by my own virtue of valuing the strong I should support them and they definitely are strong politically, but it doesn't make them right or remove the fact that personally they can crater to weakness under any hint of criticism. Even Chappelle Netflix specials and Cyberpunk is too much but despite their protests they've managed to change not a single thing,. They're just loud, and their loudness will merely just result in tired people sick of outrage. Their "strength" is limited.
