The I in We

Power embodies the ability to enact change, to be an agent of transformation, and to assert and propagate a particular worldview. To quote Nietzsche, “history takes shape through the interplay of power dynamics among divergent perspectives” (Gómez, 2010, 10). In the lens of competitive capitalism, the power to effect change adopts an individualistic hue. This perspective fosters the segregation of oneself (I) from the collective (We), while concurrently cultivating a paradigm of power relations characterized by dominance, inflexibility, segregation, norms, and and  the circulation of skewed truths.

The relentless march of capitalist (re)production has progressively distanced us from the intrinsic connection between the self and the collective, a disconnect from what Haraway et al. (2018) aptly term “the earthly one’s.” This estrangement from the existential interplay of the self within the broader whole further underscores the nuanced complexities of power dynamics in our modern context.

Our existence is intricately interwoven with the dependence on others, a bond established the moment we enter the world. As Butler (2018) eloquently asserts, “we are born into a condition of radical dependency.” Survival necessitates complicity and acknowledgment; we, as beings, gradually develop cognitive and emotional capacities as we engage with our environment, thereby constructing our unique interpretation of reality.

In this complex tapestry of perceptions, reality becomes a deeply personal and singular experience for each individual. Consequently, the quest for complicity emerges as a means of reaffirming that which resonates within us, propelling our bodies and senses to engage with the world, to affirm reality. In our journey for acknowledgment, recognition, and the validation of meaning, we seek complicity within the realm of a reality shaped by the sensory context of our embodied existence, organically.

This natural inclination leads us to explore and establish connections within our reality. We look for like-minded individuals who resonate with our sense of self and the world and create social circles, share identities, and bonds akin to “kinship.” Culture is an intricate tapestry of shared experiences and perceptions. It is an echo through time of the lives of individuals and collectives.

How can we cohabitate the planet without the differences in meaning conflicting violently? How can we subvert the egocentric, rigid, and hegemonic power relations of competition? As Edgar Cabanas (2019) puts it, the capitalist machinery fuels an individualistic pursuit of happiness that ultimately morphs into an all-consuming fixation, akin to an addictive substance that ensnares us within its grip.. We have built a reality that has no time for others, where everything seems like a race for individual comfort and happiness. “Desire as a driving force has been completely redirected to play into the hands of economic interests; there no longer  exists any relationship between humans that is not definable as business – whose meaning implies a state of being occupied , of not being available” (Berardi, 2003, 29).

The performative nature inherent from capitalism clashes with our inner selves. We depend on others in a society that increasingly distances us, a globalization that isolates us into individualism and polarizes us. “Progressive dissolution of the common… each one must only solve their own problems. Systemic problems are experienced and treated as individual issues, which generates a sense of helplessness and fosters an attitude of indifference towards others” (López Petit, 2009, 104-105).

We are experiencing a crisis where the recognition of importance of the common good clashes with the standardized functioning of society of individualism fueled by competition and materialistic pursuits that define us as a human species but are blown out of proportion in modern consumerist capitalism.