Listening to that awful Nicki Minaj. I won't repeat some of the lyrics here, lyrics which make Prince's Nikki seem tame in comparison, but if that's what passes for music these days then God help us!
On the one hand, we're told (yes, told, the irony!) that individualism is about the free expression of one's self or true self, once one has cast off all the socially defined constraints: to see oneself clearly, find one's true name (or, rather, create it since existence preceded essence). Spontaneity, creativity means being true to what, exactly?
Spontaneity is a response to the conditions of life
On the other hand, there's a sneaking suspicion that 'the self' itself cannot emerge without a social world and set of 'languages' (words, meanings, practices, concepts, traditions, norms) that it's born into; moreover, for autonomy to kick in, to take root, we need 'bridges', and relationships that both sustain us and allow us to help others as well, now and over time. What lights are lovingly handed on, nurtured, and what circles we weave for one another.
So, broken circles. Freedom is neither arbitrary nor is it asocial. 'I-We', even if there isn't an 'I-Thou' any more.
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