Authentic Autonomy

Collectivism is a gratuitous, destructive shackle that accomplishes practically nothing except the preservation of social forces that discourage individuality and rationality.  The person who seeks truth, not social constructs, is willing to disregard cultural norms and expectations whenever it suits them, whenever the urge strikes, or whenever a failure to do so results in unethical standing.  Individualism, which is at its core a thoroughly rationalistic ideology, is the antidote to the madness of collectivism.  Indeed, it is impossible to live in authentic autonomy apart from embracing individualism.

Individualism is mistaken by many collectivists for a form of arrogance and selfishness, but no individualist who fulfills their actual moral obligations to others is guilty of any such thing.  Many people confuse superficial, supererogatory acts of kindness for morally obligatory behaviors, but many small kindnesses are neither just nor unjust; they are supererogatory at best.  It is impossible for there to be an obligation to go beyond what our moral obligations demand of us, and thus there is no ultimate reason to avoid nonsinful activities that offend people other than subjective preference or manipulative usefulness.  Living without regard for anything except that which reason, morality, and personal fulfillment require is the only autonomy that is genuine.

As long as a person does not violate any of their moral obligations, there is no such thing as legitimate authenticity apart from acting as they wish, without regard for how it impacts the feelings of other people.  Since people have certain moral obligations to their spouses and friends that they do not have to others outside of those relationships, there are some feelings that should be taken into consideration before taking certain courses of action, although the wishes of the general populace are not moral obligations to be obeyed, but things to manipulate, discard, and accommodate as needed in order to achieve any nonsinful ends that one desires.

Collectivists can object to individualistic autonomy and the freedom from irrational social constructs that it encourages, but they can do nothing except roar against reason in vain.  No one is required to submit to the arbitrary, conflicting demands of human cultures, no matter how offensive this is to onlookers who derive their sense of stability from constructs that have no significance.