Essays From West of 98: Independence and Individualism
Let's avoid the peril of individualism and spreadsheet brains and live independently, together
š·: archives of the Museum of the West Texas Frontier
Words matter. In an age of internet-based conversation, we communicate for speed more than deliberative language. We have the aid of tools like texting shorthand, autocorrect, predictive text, and voice-based typing1. It is not conducive to pondering over individual word choice (something that absolutely happens when you write a hand-written letter) and we are worse off for it.
After last weekās essay āIndependence of the Peasants,ā I got to thinking about the difference in two words that seemingly have some overlap and might be used interchangeably on occasion, if you donāt think about their individual meanings: independence and individualism. I have criticized the myth of the ārugged individualistā in this space before, the frontier archetype of the person unafraid to go it alone and face innumerable hardships without the aid of anyone or anything else. Itās a staple of Western film and literature. It is also a foundation on which our country has built a mental health crisis in men. We have bred and taught men that close interpersonal relationships and discussing emotions is bad and that being tough is more important than seeking help. Itās why suicide rates among men are higher than women. Itās why rural areas experience skyrocketing suicides and associated deaths of despair when hard times strike. The rugged individualist is a great fictional character. Heās an absolutely lousy family member, friend, and community member.
Yet, I get why this myth persists. In part itās a conflation of the idea of āindividualistā with āindependence.ā Jeffersonās ideal of the farmer, hunter-trapper, shopkeeper, or artisan setting out on his own to provide for his family is powerful and deeply healthy. As I wrote last week, this ideal drove the entire settlement of the frontier. Jefferson knew this independence was a fundamental building block of a healthy society. His observations in France showed the dangers of not building a society around the independence of the common man.
Wendell Berry has long criticized our modern obsession with The Economy, in which every human action and interaction is reduced to its mere monetary value. Invaluable aspects of life like parenting and household activities are disregarded as meaningless because they do not contribute to the Gross National Product. My Twitter friend Ashley Fitzgerald has coined the phrase āspreadsheet brain,ā in which people try to view everything in life through the prism of spreadsheet analysis. If it canāt be reduced to a quantitative value, they cannot deal with it. That sounds ridiculous, and it is, but pay attention to how business, political, and academic decision-makers talk about aspects of life and youāll be shocked to see how far that spreadsheet brain has infested us. Hereās a good example: rural communities are inefficient and archaic and deserve to die off in favor of the suburbs. That is a very real spreadsheet brain view of the world that has been explicitly advocated by āthinkersā on both the right wing and left wing of American politics2.
As long as we remain living and breathing humans, relationships are an inescapable part of our lives. An individualist tries to avoid this, to the detriment of himself/herself and everyone around them. Thereās no one to catch them when they fall or help them when in need. Thereās no joy of helping others when THEY need it either. Anyone who has ever helped or given to others to any great extent knows that giving is more empowering and healthier than receiving.
The independent person is proud to provide for themselves and their family, but they do so alongside others. They barter goods and services with other independent people. They trade work with one another. They work together on projects that improve their shared life of community. Not everything has to have a monetary value. Not everything can be boiled down to a spreadsheet analysis. These relationships are what make life worth living. These relationships help us avoid the despair that hardship can bring.
I am no conspiracy theorist, but there are plenty of people and institutions who would like you to become more dependent and subservient. They canāt see their way out of spreadsheet brain and building a more āefficientā Economy to acknowledge that human relationships are essential to a happy life. As we continue down the path of revitalizing our rural communities, we must not be dependent or subservient on others, but we must also not fall prey to the dangers of individualism.
Individualism is not indepdence. Letās be independent, together. Itās the way we were intended to live.
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and the Rural Church and State and West of 98 podcasts. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to him wherever podcasts are found.
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No matter how many times I try, my iPhoneās voice-to-text function never seems to learn that I am ALWAYS saying āStamford,ā not āStanford.ā Apple may have some genius engineers, but their creations arenāt prepared for West Texas dialect.
Iām not going to name names, because these people donāt deserve to be mentioned on my website, but just keep an eye out. Youāll be shocked at the disdain for the continued existence of rural communities across the political spectrum, even in very mainstream left and right-wing publications.