My instinct is that the first (hero complex) would tend to lead someone to adventurism, but I’m not super clear on what the second (collectivist mindset) looks like in practice. Having grown up in the US, where individualist seems to be pushed to an extreme degree and collectivism equated to being a hivemind, it’s a bit difficult sometimes for me to understand what collectivism looks like in practice.
Where it gets especially difficult for me, and why I thought to come ask here where people may be able to help with the distinction, is that I have people-pleasing tendencies to a degree that seems unhealthy; in the sense of not valuing my own needs and boundaries to the extent that it’s difficult for me to be properly equipped to help others in the first place. In the vague land of hypotheticals, I get that difference; ok, I make sure I am taken care of to the extent that I can function effectively and then I can help others, right?
But in practice, where does this line make sense for a more collectivist effort, is I think the question I’m trying to get at so that I can point in an effective direction in practice, without either: 1) Slipping toward individualist thinking in order to satisfy criteria of being “less of a people-pleaser” or 2) In the other direction, using collectivist goals as a means to feed existing people-pleasing tendencies (and forgetting to value myself in the process).
As it is, conditions are not always as clean as in the hypothetical. Getting needs met can be multifaceted and take significant time. Could the problem here be that I’m just lacking strong examples to learn from in my life? I don’t know.
But I put the question to you. Hope this makes sense.
I agree with lil_tank and cfgaussian. Individualism is almost entirely a meme. Individuality isn’t.
No one is truly an island, and almost all humans rely on others to varying extents, and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that.
Individuality has value in moderation, but just like anything taken to the extreme, it can make people become isolated, selfish, or actively harmful. Though I loathe the term “natural”, humans are naturally a social species. Humans are naturally communists, going back hundreds of thousands of years, if not millions from our direct ancestors.
I think it’s good that you recognize complete individuality as a problem, and that you recognize that bending over backwards to help others can cause you to devalue yourself or harm others. I’m 26, and I’ve found that no one has the right answer to questions like this, or a happy medium, because perfection of anything is hardly possible. Don’t overthink it, but deep reflective thought is helpful.
Capitalist bootlickers view communism as being a hivemind with no individuality, but that is almost always an exaggeration or complete projection from capitalism. Capitalism is summed up as “fuck you I got mine”.
Even the most “author-onion-tar-elon-izuhm” socialist projects aren’t even a speckle in the dirt compared to the Mt. Everest-sized tower of oppressive authority as capitalism is.