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    The Postmodern Illusion

    The Postmodern Illusion starts with the modern illusion...

    Once, postmodernism and its protagonists identified themselves as freedom fighters – and probably still do. Their argument goes like this: The universalism of modernity and the logic of the general in industrialized societies, as the German sociologist Andreas Reckwitz calls it, would have led to normalization, standardization, and leveling. So, the Other would not just get excluded and oppressed in general, but individually this logic of the general and its pressure for normalization would have brought the oppression of many people too....

    This is how postmodernists pleaded and fought for an “anything goes”. They deconstructed and disassembled the great narratives of society; then they congratulated themselves for destroying the wasteland of the oppressing generality of modernity. Finally, that is their claim, real living could begin. Now would be the time to enjoy it. Finally, you would not need to stand in line and shout “yes, Sir”, or to adjust yourself to others any more.

    But otherness should not just be acknowledged in order to maximize freedom for many people – such as homosexuals. Soon, more and more people demanded individualization and self-realization. Nobody should stand in line any more. Be yourself! Be happy! That is how our culture became more and more colourful, and how the rainbow became the symbol of the achievements of this long fight for freedom.

    ...But this fight for freedom was fought under a false premise. Postmodernists deny the tasks of finding the truth and the general. So, nowadays we have one frontline of the new Right and Left postmodernists, and both fight against universalism. This causes big collateral damage. One of those damages is the presidency of Donald Trump. Indeed, I think Trump was rendered possible because of postmodern relativism and, indeed, it also meant he could become the first postmodern president. But why and how?....

    ...The message was: The End of History, as Francis Fukuyama claimed, has arrived. The only thing left to resolve is this: Who am I? People got very engaged with self-realization. This is how the politics of Left became identity politics, which is not really political in the end, because often it is not much more than the wish to express oneself. But identity politics is a form of narcissism. It would be expressive, as its famous critic Mark Lilla said in an interview with the weekly German newspaper Zeit. So, in the age of postmodern identity politics, does anyone really wonder why the biggest narcissist of all, Trump, is residing in the White House?...
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    donttread's Avatar Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    The Postmodern Illusion starts with the modern illusion...

    Actually , it seems to me that they do not fight for individualism , which has always been part of our culture. They merely define different smaller groups which should have special rights if you "qualify" under the shifting definitions.
    Why not just support individualism? I refer to it as "peopleism". However one individuals rights do not trump anothers.

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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    Actually , it seems to me that they do not fight for individualism , which has always been part of our culture. They merely define different smaller groups which should have special rights if you "qualify" under the shifting definitions.
    Why not just support individualism? I refer to it as "peopleism". However one individuals rights do not trump anothers.

    Though its conceptual origins can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Christianity, individualism was born in the Enlightenment, ie., modernism. It undermined the premodern view that man was defined by the society he was part of, its customers, its traditions, its culture. Postmodernism grew out of reactions against modernism, attempts to restore the old social order, but was a product of modernism that ended up rejecting both, freeing man to be defined by the experts and planners of the State, and rejecting, necessarily, itself.

    Goldberg, in The Suicide of the West, considers individualism unnatural turn of ideology that ends up in postmodern suicide.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    Though its conceptual origins can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Christianity, individualism was born in the Enlightenment, ie., modernism. It undermined the premodern view that man was defined by the society he was part of, its customers, its traditions, its culture. Postmodernism grew out of reactions against modernism, attempts to restore the old social order, but was a product of modernism that ended up rejecting both, freeing man to be defined by the experts and planners of the State, and rejecting, necessarily, itself.

    Goldberg, in The Suicide of the West, considers individualism unnatural turn of ideology that ends up in postmodern suicide.

    Chris , that is really deep and at the moment I have a shallow mind. I think individualism is more common and easier to maintain in rural communities. Or maybe the cities just obscure the individualist. I defer to your cultural assessments but to me individualism is and always has been a personal choice by it's very nature. How society accepts that individualism is another matter and usually those screaming for more tolerance are the most intolerant of all.
    Live and let live.

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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    Chris , that is really deep and at the moment I have a shallow mind. I think individualism is more common and easier to maintain in rural communities. Or maybe the cities just obscure the individualist. I defer to your cultural assessments but to me individualism is and always has been a personal choice by it's very nature. How society accepts that individualism is another matter and usually those screaming for more tolerance are the most intolerant of all.
    Live and let live.
    Prior to the modern age individualism was pretty much inconceivable. The East, the Orient, from the Middle East to Japan is still much pre-modern though not without ideas of individualism, capitalism, democracy invading those parts of the world.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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