Back Matter The Last Chapter of my book "The Scourge of Racism and the Cure" by Robert Villegas

Copyright 2022 by Robert Villegas All rights reserved. 

Fighting the Scourge of Racism through Individualism

There is one idea that opposes the power of racism. This idea is called individualism. It holds that the individual, not some arbitrary collective, is important; his mind is sacrosanct, and his values are his own to develop with his own mind.

“Individualism has nothing to do, historically, with the oppression suffered by many under the banner of imperialism and colonialism. Individualism is the philosophy that fought such ideas and struggled to release man from the shackles of slavery to any institution. Individualism holds that your soul is yours to create in the image that you prefer, that it cannot be molded by society or the desire to melt into a group. An individualist does not become a storm trooper who does only what the leader says. He would question and decide what is right, then follow his own judgment. An individualist fights for the right to be free of oppression and collectivism.”[1]

Collectivism is destroying our societies by positing two false alternatives:

These alternatives are black versus white, two collectives that bear little relation to real divisions in society. I am not writing here merely about moral false alternatives, but specifically racial false alternatives that create moral splits that people are willing to fight over and kill over. Racism is the result of false racial stereotyping (such as that engaged by Linneaus, Hume, Kant, and others), and it will never be defeated until men learn that black and white divisions are only about skin color, not about human value versus disvalue.

Some people (such as Marxist critical theorists) think that advanced industrial society must inevitably destroy itself as part of the historical process. In fact, according to critical race theory, racism would put up walls between people, build up collectivism and the practice of seeing minor differences as proof of fundamental moral failings.

We have seen the solution to racism before. When each of us as individuals look past skin color to acknowledge the equality of all men, we can get rid of racism. Additionally, once we realize that skin color and many other traits have nothing to do with moral character and that prejudice towards individuals is evil, only then will society be rid of the scourge of racism.

But individualism is seen as a selfish philosophy related to capitalism and self-interest. Collectivism is “group thought” which divides people and pits them against each other. You cannot offer individualism as a solution for collectivism without first being attacked, canceled, and isolated by the collective that views self-sacrifice as the solution to racism. In my opinion, this view on collectivism is actually hurting our ability to fight and eliminate racism.

So, we must have a discussion of how individualism can help us fight racism. And for this, we must look at history – at the first society that implemented individualist principles. This was the United States of America. In fact, individualism was the first cultural change in history that led to the most successful and affluent society in the history of the world.

The principle of political individualism is essentially this: leave the individual free to make his own personal and economic decisions. Leave individuals free to cooperate as sovereign entities in a way impossible under collectivism. This is accomplished by the invocation of individual rights.

A right is a moral concept that is derived from reality. In past cultures, individuals did not have rights; they had obligations, imperatives that demanded they sacrifice their lives, time, and energy for the sake of society. Individualism declared that the individual had no obligation or duty to sacrifice for the sake of society. He had only the freedom to live for himself which made it possible for people to live without being exploited by society. In individualist societies, there were no imperatives, in short, there were no collective enslavements.

Another important aspect of tying rights to reality is that rights applied to man’s life over time. We could not change rights on a whim. A right was a long-term proposition; when people knew that their rights would hold over the long-term, they could plan their futures, project their incomes, trade, borrow, and act with the assurance that their rights to freedom of action would be “regular” over time.

This need for rights to be regular, for trade to be regular, etc., was codified in the constitution of the United States through the declaration that rights were inalienable and inviolable. This principle of inalienable and inviolable rights, protected over the long haul, liberated (not groups) but individuals and made it possible for individuals to live with the expectation that their rights would be protected and, more importantly, all individuals had the same rights. This is why Americans called their culture an individualist culture. When rights are applied to individuals only, they cannot therefore apply to groups, tribes, races, and ethnic groups.

When you attempt to apply a collective principle to society, the result is that the collective inevitably takes ownership of the individual and demands that he join enclaves, groups, communes, tribes, ethnicities, etc. In collectivist cultures, sacrifice is considered sacrosanct, and the government takes onto itself the authority to pool human energy, on demand, in order, presumably, to “collect” that energy and put it to use. To accomplish this pooling of energy, the leaders of collective cultures invented catastrophic thinking that creates emergencies against which the culture must engage individual effort, as a group, and force individuals to fight in wars or die on the sacrificial pyre for the sake of “saving” society.

Note the difference between an individualist society and a collectivist society. Individualist society protects the individual and his right to act which creates the possibilities of property rights, production rights, and cooperation without force among individuals. Each individual acts for his own self-interest without the expectation that he give up his values for others.

Collectivist society, on the other hand, ignores differences among individuals and pools people into warring groups, demanding that they see other groups as enemies, parasites, and thieves. Nationalism (a form of collectivism), for instance, invents racial and/or ethnic groups in order to create outrage that will fuel wars and welfare sacrifice within the group. Altruism fosters sacrifice of values and requires that the individual see the group as sacrosanct and the government as moral authority. This creates conflict and disenfranchisement of individuals who refuse to sacrifice.

If you want to live in a peaceful society, you must ask yourself what kind of society and/or culture do you want? Do you want to be protected against the plundering of your values, or do you want a government that routinely demands that you work for the group and enable the destruction of your values? Do you want to pursue your happiness without having it plucked from you for the sake of an invented catastrophe?

Do you want a society that invents enemies by calling certain people (on the basis of skin color) evil and worthy of hatred and plunder? We have seen the results of these modern forms of racism above. If this is what you want, you are creating the racism in our society, not for the sake of eliminating racism, but for the sake of plundering human value.

If you truly want to have a society of peace, love, and cooperation, you will foster individualism, capitalism, human cooperation, and individual rights. You will discard the false and unscientific notions of race and begin to see individuals (including yourself) as free men. To purchase this book, ask for it at your local bookstore or click here: The Scourge of Racism and the Cure

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[1] Ibid