The Illusion of Independence

liawalsh

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Monday June 24, 2013 · 11:55 AM PDT

2013/06/24 · 11:55

Two people's hands held in each other's hands. They both have a ring on their left ring finger and are wearing long-sleeved sweaters. Below their clasped hands, you can make out rustic floor boards.

Today I wanted to talk about the Illusion of Independence. It has been carefully constructed by a lot of people over a long period of time. I would say that the start of the industrial age is when the first seeds were sown and it has since become a fast-growing weed that I have to beat back with a machete on a day-to-day basis.

The Illusion of Independence is exactly what it sounds like: it's the belief that we are completely independent, even though it's total and utter absurdity. Independence is celebrated, lifted up as a model of how we should try to be, and so of course we all scramble to identify as independent. Everyone from Beyoncé to the announcer on the hockey game is going to try to tell you that there is an opportunity to be independent, and you should take it.

And why am I even bothering to bring this up? Because it's dangerous to believe we're all independent. It's really, really dangerous, and for a few reasons.

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