We might
ask: Where did this focus on me, myself, and I come from?
One of the
strands that has contributed to this is the rugged individual archetype
and the associated myth of the lone hero. They have been with us for a long
time.
Stories
and myths of this archetype stretch back at least as far as Greek and Roman
mythology. Many of us will have heard of, or read of, the exploits of heroes
such as Jason, Odysseus, Perseus, Hercules, Romulus, and Remus. Within Norse
mythology we know of Odin, Thor, and Hodr. In English mythology we have the rugged
individual myths of Beowulf, King Arthur, and Robin Hood. All men. There
have been female heroines, although many of us would be hard pressed to name
many of them.
The term rugged
individual is only recently coined, by US President Herbert Hoover, has
been portrayed in Hollywood style Westerns. Butch Cassidy, Wild Bill Hickock,
Buffalo Bill, Davy Crockett, and others have all etched their rugged individual
heroism onto the minds of young boys growing up in the first half of the 20th
century. Those growing up in the latter half of that century were habituated by
male heroes such as James Bond, Indiana Jones, Magnum, Rambo, Jason Bourne, and
Neo.
These rugged
individuals do not need others to fulfill their destiny; they are highly
resilient, can withstand a hail of bullets, leap from burning buildings, and of
course, save the threatened damsel in distress. The hero rises above his pain,
is always in control, and is never vulnerable. It is one of the most toxic
archetypes young men can be exposed to. It is an absurd and unattainable self.
Rugged
individualism (akin to toxic individualism) promotes an outlook that views
other people as competitors rather than as our peers. Accordingly, such an
outlook fosters self-promotion and, at its extremity, narcissism. Furthermore,
rugged individualism cultivates a belief that one can, and should, solve one’s
own problems, even if the solving involves addictive behaviours, such as
alcohol and drug misuse, or gambling. A person entrenched in the mythology of
the rugged individual is unlikely to be able to reach out for help, further
aggravating the likelihood of resorting to unhealthy behaviours.
Francis
Weller likens the rugged individual archetype to a prison and says, ‘We are
imprisoned by this (hero) image, forced into a fiction of false
independence that severs our kinship with the earth, with sensuous reality, and
with the myriad wonders of the world. This is a source of grief for many of
us.’1
Sadly,
when individuals come to this grief, and crash headfirst into recognising that
individualism does not benefit them, the illusion is so firmly entrenched that
it becomes extremely difficult to break away from the addictions, habits, and
obsessions that have arisen to shore up the false sense of invulnerability.
Paradoxically,
it is the very notion of the Self in westernised culture that promotes
this sad state of affairs. Western culture, to a large extent, conceives of the
Self as a self-sufficient, separate, and a discrete entity. The Self
in this construction can be conceptualised as a homunculus residing within our
body, responsible to no-one but itself.
Other
cultures, especially indigenous ones and those of the Orient, perceive the Self
in a different manner. So much so, that within a couple of these cultures the
concept of no-Self is more frequently found. The concept of no-Self
could be explored in depth and take up much space. A brief clarification will
be presented here. No-Self does not mean literally that there is no self
and no individual person. It simply means that all selves come into
being, live, and pass on, as part of a highly entangled web of life.
Buddhism,
for example, calls this concept dependent co-arising; a concept in which
nothing arises by and of itself. Rather, phenomena arise by a dynamic
interaction of mutually conditioned events. Although this concept is central to
Buddhism, and hence to the cultures that embrace it, other cultures have
similar concepts.
Within
such a concept the idea of the rugged individual is unlikely to gain
traction.
Rates of
depression vary considerably around the world. It is telling that the highest
rates are found in North America, Europe (although Poland bucks the trend), Scandinavia,
Australia, and middle East nations. All of whom, to varying degrees, have a
high regard for the individual.
On the
other hand, the nations where rates of depression are lowest are found mainly
in SE Asia, West Africa, and some South American countries. Significantly,
these are nations that view the person as being part of a whole, not a separate
individual. They are also amongst the least European colonised nations on Earth.
Surely
that tells us something.
Notes:
1. Weller,
Francis, The Wild Edge of Sorrow, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA,
2015
