July 29 : Written by 404EthanNotFound
7. Why Individualism Will Never Be Enough
(feat. Mission: Impossible)
“We live and die in the shadows, for those we hold close, and for those we never meet”
When we blind ourselves to what is happening before our very eyes, no matter how we justify it, we give it permission to occur. The majority of Americans (~60%) report living paycheck to paycheck. The vast majority of people feel that their material needs are not being met.
https://jacobin.com/2025/03/bernie-sanders-paycheck-economic-statistics - Left leaning
https://www.marketwatch.com/financial-guides/banking/paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics/ - Right leaning
Reporting across the political spectrum substantiates this claim. Immiseration is so widespread in 2025. There are people in my life who will outwardly express the state of the world is causing them to ‘look out for #1’ or ‘just focus on getting mine’. This ‘grindset’, individualist outlook fails to reckon with the reality that if you have yours, it is because someone else does not have theirs. The problems brought about by hyper-individualist thinking are omni-present in today’s society. This is by design. The capitalist class has made it their mission to keep the overwhelming majority of Americans distracted through economic impoverishment. If the populous is too distracted trying to make ends meet, they will miss the bigger picture of the capitalist machine crushing people at home and abroad. While the second Trump administration has exasperated the problems of this nation, the troubles we face were not invented overnight; rather, they are decades long problems where the chickens have finally come home to roost.
“Individualism promotes a view of the self as self-directed, autonomous, and separate from others” (Santos, Henri C, Michael E. W Varnum, and Igor Grossmann. “Global Increases in Individualism.” Psychological science 28.9 (2017): pg.1228). Individualist instincts are inherently more selfish than selfless. While I am not attempting to claim that looking out for oneself first causes direct harm to others, I am claiming that the short-term gains made by individuals come at the expense of long-term boons for the working class. There is strength is class solidarity. While individually, some of us may succeed in climbing the ladder of socioeconomic status, the divisions created along the way by climbing over one another will only ever lead to further opportunities for the capitalist class to exploit the masses. Most Americans are infinitely closer to being homeless than to being a billionaire. What the ruling (capitalist) class does to maintain this hierarchy is diabolical and vile. They sow chaos and misfortune across the globe through depressing of wages, through capture of the political systems, through valuing profits above the wellbeing of people.
Coined by Naomi Klein, the shock doctrine is the widespread use of catastrophe (both natural and manufactured) as opportunity for the corporate class to seize power. This can be natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, etc.) or conflicts (war, destabilization, coups). By being shielded from the disaster through capital, the rich elite do not bear the brunt of these costs to society and are thereby free to put the pieces back how they see fit by using their already vast levels of money.
I highly recommend picking this book up.
Describing capitalists today is like describing a caricature of a mustache-twirling villain. Because of this, I find it apt to use a cinema hero as a vehicle for conversation and critique. I have been a years-long ‘Mission: Impossible’ fan. Based upon the 1960s and 1970s TV series, the ‘Mission: Impossible’ film franchise has 8 incredible installments (well, maybe 7 incredible installments, ‘M:I 2’ is not my favorite). Perhaps it was that the protagonist, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt shared my name. Perhaps it was how Tom Cruise undeniably pushed cinema forward with each new stunt (no matter how you feel about the man personally). I find that ‘Mission: Impossible’ highlights the strengths of working as a collective and putting others before yourself.
Ethan Hunt is a paragon for selflessness. There is no risk he will not personally incur, nor death-defying stunt he will not attempt if it could mean saving someone. I have reflected on why I resonate with Hunt so much. The traits that I strive for on a daily basis are facets of life he has mastered. He refuses to budge on principles. Guided by his moral compass, no obstacles will stand in the way of his mission. Even when fate, destiny, and every government on the planet stands in his way, he refuses to let his compatriots down. He constantly put himself on the line, without question, simply because it is the right thing to do. Each mission is more death-defying, the stakes always rising. Hunt is constantly putting himself on the line for others, both his team and the greater populous. While he works at the behest of American intelligence, his consistent rouge behavior showcases that his internal compass guides him, rather than any government.
“Some flaw deep in your core being won’t allow you to choose between one life and millions. Now, you see that as a sign of weakness. To me? That’s your greatest strength”
Our current system of late-stage capitalism works, fundamentally, through exploitation. Every dollar of profit made by a United States company has come from exploiting the labor of the workforce. Profits by nature are stolen gains of the working class. Unless the profits of a corporation or company are redistributed in a way determined by the workforce it is undeniable that the system is inherently exploitative. Mentalities that individuals are only responsible for helping themselves only further exacerbates the problems. Collective labor action will be the only antidote to overzealous corporate greed. I often find myself leaning on mantras such as “a rising tide lifts all ships”. Sadly, I see so much callousness in the world around me. I see it in my workplace, I see it on the internet, most importantly, I see it in the lack of regard for human life in other regions of the world.
In the United States, by only looking out for ourselves, we disconnect from our community. This interview from The Majority Report on the cruelty towards the homeless population lays bare the consequences of climbing over people to elevate oneself rather than collectively working to ensure that everyone has a life of dignity with all the essential human necessities.
The problems with American capitalism do not stop at our borders. The global stage is complicated; I will stipulate as much. When I started my journey into learning more about politics, I thought understanding solely American politics would be sufficient. I was mistaken. Understanding our place in the world is essential. It requires analyzing how the United States has flexed its military might to the rest of the world. I have shared this graph in previous pieces but once again it is relevant:
The United States is in the process of approving a military budget of 1 TRILLION dollars through Congress (currently received in the Senate).
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4016/text
The American military industrial complex is a lucrative capitalist endeavor. Weapons manufacturers can make a fortune arming the United States and its allies. Congress in its current makeup could never find a single dollar more to fund healthcare in this country, but increased military aid to Israel has full-chested bipartisan support. The military industrial complex exports chaos and destruction to the Middle East and the Global South. Eventually, the weapons of war arrive back in the United States to arm our police departments and federal agencies like I.C.E. where they will be deployed against the American public.
Mission: Impossible treats the world as an interconnected backdrop for Ethan Hunt to test his moral backbone. It showcases a type of spycraft that does have the world’s populations interests in mind, protecting them from threats of harm whether that be biological weapons, nuclear conflicts, or shadow organizations using violence to shape world policy. Contrast this to the actual reality of United States intelligence agencies, which have a lengthy history of inciting violence abroad rather than diffusing it.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/7/16/ameri-coup-a-brief-history-of-us-misdeeds
The U.S. intelligence agencies of today operate in a similar capacity to the Syndicate of Mission: Impossible – Rouge Nation & Mission: Impossible: Fallout. This shadow organization made of presumed dead intelligence operatives worked to procure influence and power through targeted attacks on critical infrastructure without concern for collateral damage or ability to be held accountable by any government or intergovernmental organizations. Curious how the methodologies of the antagonist group more closely resemble the current day deployment of the intelligence apparatus on the global stage.
While the news cycle moves faster than ever (the shock doctrine in action), it can be difficult to fully appreciate that the globe just stared down World War III. Global conflict is great for quelling the masses. It gives government leaders the ability to name an external enemy for the people to blame their grievances on. Look no further than George Orwell’s ‘1984’ for examples of the government using endless propaganda of war with Eastasia and Eurasia despite the fact that these wars were a farce:
“Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control. Officially the change of partners had never happened. Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia. The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.”
Striking Iran without congressional approval should have triggered impeachment. In a normal society, it would have. Due to the consistent unchecked abuses of power of Presidents using the military since the War on Terror, June 22nd, 2025 was just another Sunday. If that were not demented enough, the strikes on Iran completely undermined the peace negotiations that were actively happening at the time of the strikes. The goal of this deception was to ‘cripple’ Iran’s nuclear program, which President Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was on the record stating had not been restarted since 2003.
Moreover, if President Trump was interested in reducing Iran’s nuclear capability, he would not have torn the JCPOA (Iran Nuclear Deal) to shreds during his first term. All for what? Simply for the vanity of literally tearing up perhaps the Obama Administration’s greatest achievement.
https://www.npr.org/2018/05/08/609383603/trump-u-s-will-withdraw-from-iran-nuclear-deal
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning all deal with the consequences of nuclear proliferation and the devastating consequences of mutually assured destruction. The latest installment in the franchise has the world’s nuclear arsenal held hostage by an AI known as ‘The Entity’ which uses the threat of complete planetary annihilation in order to paralyze the world’s governments. There are no winners in nuclear war. Yet the way that America has elected to flaunt its nuclear capabilities encourages other nations to acquire nuclear weapons as a deterrent to attack (Iran, Ukraine, North Korea). I encourage you, dear reader, to compare and contrast the outcomes of these three nations with their willingness to give up nuclear armaments. I’ll spoil the outcome for you. The only nation that has not given up nuclear armaments has not been attacked. The global stage encourages the acquisition of nuclear weapons for security and the U.S. has only propagated this behavior.
Admittedly, he estimated number of nuclear warheads in the world has greatly declined since the height of the Cold War.
However, there are still plenty of nuclear bombs in existence to guarantee mutually assured destruction. In other words, in a scenario where nuclear bombs are used for warfare:
Even as the American public faces immiseration from the capitalist class, it is undeniable that Americans hold immense privilege compared to other corners of the globe. The privilege that Americans experience is not free. It comes at the expense of the Global South, the Middle East, anywhere that the tentacles of American Imperialism can be found. The daily crimes against humanity being committed in Palestine by the U.S. backed Israeli government are a direct testament of this. The Palestinians are being systematically killed in the region in the name of Zionism. President Trump has already made his own claim to Palestinian territory for the ‘Trump Gaza’ hotel.
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5309695/trump-gaza-video
The eradication of the Palestinians is allowed to continue because the capitalists are salivating that they will be able to build resorts on top of the corpses. Their lack of humanity is deranged and should not be tolerated. Political commentator Hasan Piker had an extremely inspirational and humanizing interview with Yusuf, a Palestinian 16-year-old. I was inspired by Yusuf’s sharp analysis and his radiant positivity in the face of such disaster.
When individualist values are acted upon, when we blind ourselves to the violence caused due to our collective inattention, we actively create the permission structure for further violence. The latest news from Gaza is that starvation is widespread. Finally, after nearly two years of slaughter has the mainstream media began to take its head out of its ass and start covering this genocide as such. I fear even if adequate aid were to arrive within the hour, it is far too late for so many innocent Palestinians.
“Ethan: “I swear, your life will always matter more to me than my own.”
Grace: “You don’t even know me.”
Ethan: “What difference does that make?”
”
These conditions are not immutable. Despite what the corporate class would like you to believe, things can change for the better. The status quo does not need to be maintained, nor should it. Those with opulence and wealth should be made to understand this. Their second homes could be our healthcare. Their yachts could be our pensions. Their influence on our political system could be a government that protects all people in perpetuity. The money for the bombs we have sent to kill innocent Palestinian children could be used as our college tuition. All we need is some imagination and the will to pursue these objectives, despite the obstacles. I know the mission ahead is difficult, many have said it is impossible.
I’ll just continue to lean on my moral compass and channel my inner Ethan Hunt, being relentlessly dedicated to the task at hand. Anything less would be disgraceful. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to join me in this struggle and to stand up for others, no matter the cost. While making our voices heard is beneficial, it is not enough. Becoming more educated on the actions of our government, joining local organizations (DSA, food banks, etc.), and empowering workers through unionizing are essentials to creating grassroots movements that will shape the future of this nation. Everyone has a role to play because we are all in this together. Whether you elect to see that or put the wool back over your eyes is up to you. Your mission, should you choose to accept it.