Collectivism & Individualism, part four

Lego tiles by Vadim Bogulov

What is identity?
Saturday – September 27, 2025

Identity is one of those things in life that can be rather hard to define, but identity is also something that exists all around us and with us at all times, whether we like it or not, and the only way to truly get away from or escape from the confines of identity would indeed be to retire from the world: it would require you to completely leave the social and human context that has shaped you behind and this would for most people be quite an impossible feat. But identity is also an aspect of social dynamics, of social life, that is largely conceptual and constructive. That is to say: identity is not a quantity that defines the person, but rather the quantity (the identity) is defined and shaped by context, and one individual is not really enough to evoke a complete conceptualization of an identity; multiple people have to be put in relation to the identity, and in this sense it's also quite in keeping with the collectivist nature of human kind that identity as a social and historical phenomena is imposed on the individual. No man has a choice when it comes to his identity, for it is something that is shaped by other people. Indeed, identity can't be assumed or rejected, unless the conception of your identity is somehow changed by those around you, and to that extent you could say that you could define your identity, but that would still be dependent on how others perceive you in relation to themselves and the world. Indeed, your identity is very much the political object that you turn into in the minds of other men, and this makes the nature of identity quite oppressive and unjust, especially in the context of anthropological limits, and the best example of this would be discrimination on the part of identity, such as racism, xenophobia, etc. There are of course many other aspects of identity that goes beyond the merely primordial, but when people relate to each other they tend to go by the greatest common denominator, such as skin color or other political lines that describe some quality that is considered innate and really permanent; these identities tend to galvanize people around their commonality more so than more material commonalities, but not to say that skin color isn't really material in nature. Skin color for instance is material, but it is perceived by most men as something that has been almost ordained by the creator to befall a man, and as such it would be quite offensive and wrong to consider this quality material and changeable, but it is changeable and just as material as any other quality that describes man. Verily, skin color can change all the time, and in our days you can even permanently change your skin tone, something I intend to cover at another time. There are of course more complicated identities that are grounded in both something that is perceived as physical, political, and cultural and these two identities are also modern ideas: they are nationality and ethnicity, and they tend to intersect, but they don't always have to coexist, and more frequently they don't. But identity is as I've described in previous posts in this series part of that collectivist tendency among men, and to repeat myself I like to describe identity as something that men are reduced to, the form that the political object assumes or takes on, and this form is shaped not by the individual himself but rather by the social context which he is part of. Of course, there are people that go through what is called an "identity-crisis", and this very modern crisis is usually a result of excessive individualism in the modern world, where men are ripped away from their social context, or really where the social context has failed to evoke a clear anthropological limit, a result usually of multiculturalism. I also believe that while identity seems fixed and static in nature that it is advisable to not allow other people to define you: you are a man of God, a man that seeks the light and therefore you cannot allow other men to shape your destiny, and this has rendered identity a self-fulfilling prophecy in many ways. Finally I also want to address the future of identity: I believe that identities will become more fluid or flexible in the future as the march of technological progress will enable men to define themselves more and more; that is define themselves within the material order.

    What then can be done about identity and should you embrace identity? Nothing, there is nothing that can be done about identity and the sooner you both realize and accept this the better. The only thing you may do about identity is to not allow it to define you: indeed you must only be defined by your relation to the creator, not to the material order. Identity is really something that ties you down, that holds you back and makes you a part of the material order, whether you wish to be a part of it or not. When you assume an identity you also assume the form of the political object, but indeed you do assume this form whether you embrace it or not, but this could and should be used in your own defense. While you don't seek to embrace the beastly form, other beasts will not be aware of your true form, as a man of ascendant nature, and as long as you remain in the world, this is a good thing and will protect you. Of course, the more you live with identity over your head, you are going to be tempted to assume this form, and you may even be taking on the form of your political object without being aware of it, and this is why I call on you to depart from the world, the material world and this is the only thing that can and will liberate you from your identity.

    I do also want to address the issue of identity from the point of view of the bourgeois: that is to say the men that assume all sorts of small identities such as professionalism, education, class, and more, and while these identities seem more flexible and interchangeable in nature, they are also very much fixed. Yes, you could say that a man could assume or acquire an identity tied to his profession or other social status, and while this is true, this so-called identity is not really an identity; it's merely an attribute or particle of his real identity. To be a master chess player is not an identity, it's an attribute that describes and often complements the already existing identity, and in our modern times do notice that the most commonly assumed identity is that of the rugged individual, which seems to have created some kind of mass psychosis, but this is by design, something I intend to cover at another time. Indeed, identity is something that is brought upon you and therefore your only viable choice would be to not allow it to define who you are: you are a man of God and this is the only identity you need to care about, but it will be hard if you intend to continue in the world. While I can't force anyone to do anything, I do strongly recommend you to depart and retire from the world.

    I want to close out this post by saying that I reject any identities that society attempts to impose on me and I do this by simply not being a part of society; I have removed myself from society and all forms of social incarceration and this has brought me closer to the source, the light. When I was still in the world, I often had to grapple with identity, but this was a long time before I saw the light and possessed the profound insight. While identity on the surface is seemingly about belonging, you must understand that there is nothing to belong to in the world, nothing at all and once you understand this, then you can truly be free. I don't like that word "freedom", but if it was ever applicable it must surely be in this context. You cannot defeat the beast with beastly intentions; you can only defeat the beast by allowing for the light to engulf the entirety of the Earth. I also need to make it clear that this isn't about escaping: to reject social conditioning is not to escape, it's actually to break free, and those are two different things. When you escape you've lost, but when you break free you have destroyed the beast within, and you have trampled on him.

Reginald Drax – September 27, 2025.