The Myth of Autonomy – Resilience
Posted: October 20, 2019 at 8:49 am
Many Americans take for granted, even idealize, the ideal of personal autonomy: they call it independence, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, not being a burden, not taking hand-outs, taking care of their own, standing on their own two feet, and freedom. The American myth is that autonomy is achievable and that its the most honorable lifestyle there is. Many Americans unconsciously accept that people are by nature autonomous individuals. But autonomy is a myth, not a reality.
Autonomists think that people can live entirely by the fruits of their own efforts, not relying on outside people or society. They imagine that they can interact with people solely as they choose, entering into relationships and leaving them whenever they want to, not being a burden to them or having them be a burden in return. They believe that they are entirely in control of their thoughts and choices, that they direct their wills, and that their true moral guidance comes from their own hearts.
This mythology is not a new thing for most (though not all) Americans. To some extent our geography has shaped it. Historically weve had the sense that theres always new land out there, waiting to be subdued, where men are men and women are tired. Theres room never to have to be part of a neighborhood. When those mythic Americans, the pioneers, saw the chimney smoke of a new neighbor on the horizon, they could move farther out and wrest an independent living from the land, with no revenuers or government agents breathing down their necks. Of course this is no longer true, if it ever was, but the mythology of autonomy remains with Americans today.
Morrison Residence, Nebraska. Library of Congress.
Philosophy has also shaped our mythology. Many of the earliest and most influential European settlers arrived during the intellectual ferment of the Enlightenment. Enlightenment philosophers held, and the common people absorbed, the ideas that there was not a personal god, that mankind was perfectible by its own efforts, and that through reason and science we could break the bonds of oppressive religious, governmental, and personal relationships. In fact, some of the philosophers believed that the interdependence of people was what created evil in the world, that perfectly detached people would be perfectly good. Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau even abandoned his own (illegitimate) child to be raised in a convent, feeling that the smothering interdependence of father and son would distort the childs psyche and prevent his growing up free. (Whose freedom was Rousseau concerned with?)
Rousseau. Library of Congress.
We tend to forget that there was always tension in America between individualistic and collective ways of thinking, between mountain men and barn raising, between lighting out for the frontier and being part of an established community. In the memory of autonomists, the American Revolution seemed to reinforce the convictions that independence and self-determination were the supreme good and were achievable by our own efforts. According to the mythology, the Civil War, too, was fought over the issue of independence of states rights or personal independence from slavery. Although the Civil War might more properly be seen as a contest of the cooperative life of the Northern towns versus the so-called autonomous life of the Southern landowner, in which the Northern way of cooperation won, nonetheless autonomists see the war as a struggle for personal freedom. And so the myth of self-reliance continues until today.
But no matter how they boast, no one is living the autonomous life that they idealize. Even the few who look like theyre self-sufficient really arent. The survivalist hunts his own meat and tans the hide, but did he smelt the ore to make his guns and traps? Homesteaders raise both food and buildings, but they didnt plant the trees that they cut down for lumber, nor did they mine the iron for the nails. In fact, they didnt give the trees the power to grow or place the raw materials in the earth. They we all rely on provisions from outside ourselves for life.
Cabin in Montana. Library of Congress.
Autonomists typically claim that theyve worked for all they have, that theyve never taken a hand-out from anyone, but they arent telling the strict truth. They may have started their own business, but they didnt make the economy or customers or infrastructure that made the business possible. They didnt create and raise and educate the human capital that keeps their business running. And ironically, not only do they rely on others for their success, but others rely on them to provide something they need and pay the autonomists money that they need to maintain their business. Even autonomists are part of a web of giving and receiving, not an isolated entity.
One barrier that autonomists erect to preserve their illusion of autonomy is money. If I pay you, I dont have an interdependent relationship with you. You arent another person, youre an employee, or a nursing home attendant, or a shopkeeper. I can pay you to look after me when I want you to and go away when I dont, and then well never be a burden to each other. But paying for food, education, care, services, and goods doesnt make people autonomous. It just moves the relationship they have with the providers of goods and services a little farther away.
Even our thoughts are not autonomous. All people are products of their culture, time, and place. Consider Ralph Waldo Emerson, an undeservedly popular American essayist and contemporary of Henry David Thoreau, the ultimate guru of autonomy. In his essay Self-Reliance, Emerson writes, Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. In other words, dont let anyone or anything affect your thinking, but rely only on yourself. The big joke is that now, 150 years later, graduate students are writing dissertations on where Emerson got his ideas, because they understand, if he didnt, that no one develops in a vacuum.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. Library of Congress.
We are fooling ourselves if we think that individual independence is the mark of personal and evolutionary success. We evolved not by the Randian competition of individuals but by the development of interdependent social networks. Our most extraordinary evolved trait makes that clear: language. If we were meant to be autonomists, we would look like sabertooth tigers or sharks; instead, we are small and weak on our own, but with the means for complex cooperation and community, we have become the intelligent, flexible species we are today. Its time to debunk this mythology of autonomy and consider the nature of our true relationships with the world and each other.
Teaser photo credit: Our manifest destiny. Library of Congress.
Read the original here:
The Myth of Autonomy - Resilience
- A few words of enlightenment | Letters To The Editor | ncnewsonline.com - New Castle News - December 5th, 2020
- 'Finding the Heart Sutra': Alex Kerr finds humor at the heart of wisdom and enlightenment - The Japan Times - December 5th, 2020
- The enlightenment of Guru Nanak, and a glimpse into his global Udasis - The Indian Express - December 5th, 2020
- slowthai, punk prophet of Britain's austerity generation, is on a strange trip to enlightenment - Document Journal - December 5th, 2020
- How cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad mark a return to the propaganda of the Middle Ages - Middle East Eye - December 5th, 2020
- You Go Girl!: The Commercialisation of Feminism - Mediummagazine - December 5th, 2020
- Conservatism and Liberalism: Two Books on the Great Divide - The Wall Street Journal - December 5th, 2020
- Introduction to The New York Times' 1619 Project and the Racialist Falsification of History - WSWS - December 5th, 2020
- The Composting Costumier talks The Planet - A Lament with Garin Nugroho | Columns - Aussie Theatre - December 5th, 2020
- Why Is It Important to Remember What Came Before? > News > USC Dornsife - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences - December 5th, 2020
- The Not So Negative Dialectics of Post-Secondary Education - The Bullet - Socialist Project - December 5th, 2020
- We say America is a 'Christian nation.' Here's what that would look like if we really meant it | Opinion - Pennsylvania Capital-Star - December 5th, 2020
- Ball: The garden at the end of the tunnel - Amarillo.com - December 5th, 2020
- Interview with Lisa Williams, founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and creator of its Black History Walking Tours - bellacaledonia.org.uk - December 5th, 2020
- Off the Grid: Maladaptive coping and quarantine pie - The Spokesman-Review - November 27th, 2020
- Critical Care Products Market Enlightenment on Future Scenario by 2027 - The Market Feed - November 27th, 2020
- MY FAVOURITE THINGS: Amazed at the amount of home-grown talent in Sheffield - Sheffield Telegraph - November 27th, 2020
- New book about change and transformation follows woman's journey to find herself - GlobeNewswire - November 27th, 2020
- The Old Guy: Remembering a beloved Staten Island restaurant that did not survive 2020 - SILive.com - November 27th, 2020
- The Crown's learning disability storyline highlights painful lack of progress - The Guardian - November 27th, 2020
- Trump's war with America itself | Opinion | washtimesherald.com - Washington Times Herald - November 27th, 2020
- Many exalted western values rooted in Christian tradition - The Irish Times - November 27th, 2020
- Explore the Enlightenment with Ayn Rand Scholars - New Ideal - October 30th, 2020
- Time's Monster by Priya Satia review living in the past - The Guardian - October 30th, 2020
- How to Be a Luminary - Torah Insights - Parshah - Chabad.org - October 30th, 2020
- The politicisation of civilisations and ideologies: Macron, Charlie Hebdo and blasphemy in France - Middle East Monitor - October 30th, 2020
- Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon review survival and enlightenment - The Guardian - October 14th, 2020
- Does the world still need the West? - Al Jazeera English - October 14th, 2020
- Jess Keiser explores the Enlightened psyche, "nervous fictions" in new book - Tufts Daily - October 14th, 2020
- Alejandro Jodorowsky Reflects on 'The Incal,' 40 Years Later - Hollywood Reporter - October 14th, 2020
- Ethnic studies teach Latino kids to hate the US. It is dangerous for Arizona - The Arizona Republic - October 14th, 2020
- 'Biden or Trump?' is a question that signifies the age of decay - GlobalComment.com - October 14th, 2020
- The New Enlightenment, and what it means for us - The Daily Princetonian - September 24th, 2020
- Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution review, British Museum: this serious-minded show proves it's time we stopped tittering - Telegraph.co.uk - September 24th, 2020
- Car Buying is Changing and All It Took Was a Pandemic: The Enlightenment - Car and Driver - September 24th, 2020
- 'Electric Jesus' will take you on a metal-fueled journey towards enlightenment - Document Journal - September 24th, 2020
- Yom Kippur in recovery | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - September 24th, 2020
- Phil Jackson Sent Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss A Photo Of Him In A Team Sweatshirt To Cheer Her Up - Sports Illustrated - September 24th, 2020
- PLU French professor receives a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities - The Suburban Times - September 24th, 2020
- Bodh Gayas Mahabodhi temple to reopen from September 21 with restrictions - Hindustan Times - September 24th, 2020
- CULTURE Autumn 2020 exhibitions at the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti - The Florentine - September 24th, 2020
- Interview: I like to be reminded that literature has the power and mystery of a dragon, says Australian-Iranian... - Hindustan Times - September 13th, 2020
- Akwa Ibom to partner royal fathers on COVID-19 protocol enlightenment and enforcemen - Daily Sun - September 13th, 2020
- Karen Burnham Reviews Short Fiction: Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Tor.com - Locus Online - September 13th, 2020
- This isnt the time to forget Benjamin Franklin - Grand Island Independent - September 13th, 2020
- Joe Rogan's 'Inner Voice' Hack Could Be The Secret To True Workout Zen - DMARGE - September 13th, 2020
- Prop 13: Taxes and the Importance of an Open Mind - LA Progressive - September 13th, 2020
- Meera Sodha's vegan recipe for Shaoxing and soy braised tofu with pak choi - The Guardian - September 13th, 2020
- Pakistan sees its face in the mirror and doesnt like what it sees - The Indian Express - September 13th, 2020
- When Monuments Fall | by Kenan Malik - The New York Review of Books - September 13th, 2020
- 17-year-old junior hockey player hopes his coming out will inspire others - CBC.ca - September 13th, 2020
- In the beginning...the important things - The Hillsdale Daily News - September 13th, 2020
- FRSC partners Health Foundation on drivers certification The Sun Nigeria - Daily Sun - September 13th, 2020
- LIVING HISTORY: Keeper of the Books at library of the ages - The Courier - September 13th, 2020
- The Revolution Is Upon Us - Heritage.org - September 8th, 2020
- Author Introduces a New Age of Consciousness Through Reincarnation - Marketscreener.com - September 8th, 2020
- What Movies To Expect This Fall - NPR - September 8th, 2020
- Hajj 2020.. The ticket to board Hajj 2021 flight - The Nigerian Voice - September 8th, 2020
- Q&A: Jeff Okudah, on how reading sparked a 'Quest of Enlightenment' - The Athletic - September 7th, 2020
- Terence Corcoran: You are not you, and other truths of the new world - Financial Post - September 7th, 2020
- Hercules, Marvel Boy Bi-Sexual In Guardians of the Galaxy - Cosmic Book News - September 7th, 2020
- Forrest Hubbard Jr.'s newly released "Dreydens" is a riveting novel of a trio of curious individuals on a quest to unveil their world's... - September 7th, 2020
- Mathews: Meditating on Prop 13 with the Tibetan buddhists in Howard Jarvis' house - The Bakersfield Californian - September 7th, 2020
- Lilian Visinoni: Young And Ready to Save the Earth - THISDAY Newspapers - September 7th, 2020
- Islamic world at decisive point in history: Will it take the path of Emirates or Turkey? - Firstpost - September 7th, 2020
- Antiheroes and the 'American' Experience in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man - Varsity Online - September 7th, 2020
- An Interview With Kosovo's Prime Minister and Other Top Weekend Reads - Foreign Policy - September 7th, 2020
- The role of desire in the religious life - Monroe Evening News - September 7th, 2020
- Guardians of the Galaxy #6 Review (2020) - Cosmic Book News - September 7th, 2020
- Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum Explores Footwear in the Age of Enlightenment in New 18th Century Exhibition - PRNewswire - August 16th, 2020
- Enlightenment and its discontents - Frontline - August 16th, 2020
- The Bata Shoe Museums Latest Exhibit Focuses on 18th Century Footwears Influence in the Age of Enlightenment - Footwear News - August 16th, 2020
- How This Technology Sales Leader Is Guiding Teachers Toward Instructional Enlightenment - Forbes - August 16th, 2020
- The 'woke' will lead us to enlightenment and more letters to the editors - Chattanooga Times Free Press - August 16th, 2020
- Freemasons: Behind the veil of secrecy - Livescience.com - August 16th, 2020
- 2 BR 0 2 B and the current situation of the world - newagebd.net - August 16th, 2020
- Nepal, India in war of words over Buddhas origins - The Hindu - August 16th, 2020
- Following and learning mumbo-jumbo - The News International - August 16th, 2020
- Top 10 books about the Grand Tour - The Guardian - August 16th, 2020
- Review: "Culture and the Death of God" - NBC2 News - August 16th, 2020