The Dangers of Groupism

We’ve all heard of the term groupie as an affection way to refer to someone dedicated and even committed to a particular rock group. For that person, that group is like a religion of sorts, though more liberal and probably more fun. However, being devoted to a group (any group, not just a music one) isn't all fun and games. It can be something to look out for as it's not the most hygienic thing psychologically.

Being committed to a particular group, often in a fundamentalist way, is what I refer to as groupism. We are all victims of it to some extent, even if we like to think of ourselves as world citizens or something all-inclusive. The moment we say "I am this or the other," we are automatically excluding others who don't belong to this group of ours, and if we continue thinking along these lines, we are bound to build trenches out of this initially innocent statement. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in a particular group, especially if that's a minority, and focusing on the camaraderie of its members. This can be a noble act of connectedness. However, when that group becomes our world, and everything else is seen as "the enemy," we are in trouble.

Groupism isn't all about organizing people into groups, but it's a kind of identity crisis. Because we are often unable to know or accept our individual identity, we seek to adopt a group identity, like a template of sorts for our psyche. This may seem acceptable if you are a child in the early stages of development, but as an adult, it doesn't seem natural. Of course, we may conform to some norms of the society we live in and consequently adopt some kind of cultural identity. However, when this becomes something restrictive, it degrades into groupism. Because if there is a chance of evolving through a culture (which is one of the primary reasons we organize ourselves this way), this chance drops to zero right when we let groupism inside.

Groupism isn't just cultural, though. It can even be ideological and has been such in the past. It's because of groupism that many people have fought others of a different belief system, seeing them as evil or uncivilized. Because for the groupist, anyone not belonging to his/her group is an evil person that needs to either be changed or eradicated. Why else would someone kill someone else who is a stranger to them? It's one thing killing someone in self-defense and something completely different when putting on a uniform and going after that other person in a war-like manner. If this happens on a smaller scale we refer to such groups as gangs, though on a larger scale this takes more socially acceptable labels.

Groupism is, in my view, the greatest threat we are facing these days. What started as an experimental treatment for those "brave" ones who were willing to shoulder all the risks and get some unknown substance in their bloodstream is now an ever-growing group that seems to assert itself by combating the others, the anti-science people who’d rather not put that experimental medication in their bodies. I don’t know about you, but this is reminiscent of a civil war of sorts, even if there are no guns involved, for the time being.

But things are not all doom and gloom. Groupism relies on groupthink and the lack of individual identity. So, by fostering independent thought and a team-oriented mentality, we have a chance against the societal erosion that groupism brings. By the term "team" I mean a collective of individuals working in tandem while maintaining a sense of individuality and independent thought. A team honors individuality instead of suppressing it. Perhaps this is akin to our evolutionary path rather than the regression to the animal-like state that groupism represents.

What are your independent thoughts on this matter?