Collectivist Ideologies Are Harmful for Human Relations

Collectivist Ideologies: The Shared Authoritarianism of National Socialism, Marxism, Communism, and Islamism

In the landscape of political ideologies, the liberty spectrum provides a useful framework for understanding the tension between individual freedom and collective control. This spectrum positions ideologies along axes of liberty versus authoritarianism and individualism versus collectivism.

At one end (right) lies individualism, which prioritizes personal autonomy, inalienable rights, and the pursuit of happiness without undue interference from the state or society. At the opposite end (left) is collectivism, where the group's needs—whether defined by class, race, nation, or religion—supersede individual rights, often enforced through centralized authority and coercive power.

Collectivist systems view people not as unique entities but as members of predefined groups, leading to hierarchies of value and systemic inequality. National Socialism (Nazism), Marxism, Communism, and Islamism all fall squarely on the collectivist-authoritarian side of this spectrum, sharing a disdain for individual liberty in favor of state or communal dominance.

This article explores their common collectivist traits, the harm they inflict on human relations by prioritizing group identities, and the need for reform toward a philosophy of infinite human value, as articulated in Ethical Individualism.

Collectivism, as a philosophical and political orientation, subordinates the individual to the social whole, whether a state, class, race, or religious community. It manifests in ideologies that emphasize group solidarity over personal freedom, often justifying authoritarian structures to achieve purported communal goals.

On the liberty spectrum, these systems cluster toward authoritarianism because they require centralized power to enforce conformity and suppress dissent. Individualism, by contrast, aligns with higher liberty, viewing society as a voluntary association of free agents. The collectivist ideologies in question—Nazism, Marxism, Communism, and Islamism—exemplify this authoritarian tilt, as they all centralize power in a vanguard or elite to impose group-based hierarchies, eroding individual rights and equality.

National Socialism, or Nazism, epitomizes collectivist authoritarianism through its racial lens. Under Adolf Hitler, the Nazi regime framed society as a racial hierarchy, with "Aryans" as the superior group destined to lead a unified Volksgemeinschaft (people's community). Individuals were valued only insofar as they contributed to this racial collective; Jews, Romani people, Slavs, and others were deemed inferior "Untermenschen" (subhumans), justifying their exclusion, persecution, and extermination.

This group-based judgment was enforced by a totalitarian state apparatus, including the Gestapo and SS, which centralized power to eliminate individual dissent and enforce racial purity laws like the Nuremberg Laws. Nazism rejected liberal individualism, viewing it as a threat to national unity, and instead promoted a cult of the Führer where personal rights were sacrificed for the "greater good" of the Reich.Marxism and Communism, though ostensibly opposed to Nazism, share its collectivist core through class-based groupings.

Karl Marx's ideology posits history as a struggle between classes—the proletariat versus the bourgeoisie—where individuals are defined by their economic group rather than personal merits. This leads to a collectivist vision of society where private property and individual enterprise are abolished in favor of communal ownership.

Communism, as the practical application of Marxism under leaders like Lenin and Stalin, centralized power in the state to enforce this classless ideal, resulting in authoritarian regimes that suppressed individual rights through purges, gulags, and forced collectivization. In Soviet Communism, for instance, dissenters were labeled "class enemies" and stripped of rights, illustrating how group identity (class affiliation) overrides individual equality.

Both Marxism and Communism position themselves on the liberty spectrum's collectivist-authoritarian quadrant, prioritizing the dictatorship of the proletariat over personal freedoms.Islamism, as a radical political interpretation of Islam, extends collectivism into the religious domain. Figures like Sayyid Qutb envisioned a society where Muslims form a superior ummah (community), with non-Muslims (infidels or kuffar) relegated to inferior status.

In Islamist regimes or movements, such as those inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood or ISIS, centralized authority—often a caliphate or sharia-enforcing state—imposes group hierarchies, granting Muslims greater rights while discriminating against non-believers, women, and minorities through laws on dhimmi status or apostasy.

This collectivism mirrors the authoritarianism of the other ideologies, as individual rights are subordinated to religious conformity, enforced by entities like morality police or jihadist militias. Radical Islamism thus views people through a communal religious prism, denying universal equality in favor of divine hierarchy.These ideologies' emphasis on group identity inflicts profound harm on human relations.

By categorizing individuals into superior and inferior groups—racial (Nazism), class (Marxism/Communism), or religious (Islamism)—they foster division, hatred, and violence. Nazism's racial collectives led to the Holocaust, where millions were murdered based on group affiliation rather than individual actions. Marxism and Communism's class warfare resulted in famines, executions, and cultural revolutions that killed tens of millions, treating people as expendable units in a collective struggle.

Islamism's religious groupings have fueled terrorism, sectarian conflicts, and oppression, where non-conformists face death or subjugation. This collective judgment erodes trust, as interactions are filtered through stereotypes, leading to dehumanization and perpetual conflict.

Such systems deny the intrinsic equality of all humans, as proclaimed in the US Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights."

By prioritizing groups over individuals, these ideologies violate this foundational principle, justifying inequality and authoritarian control.

“Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group—whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called ‘the common good.’”
— Ayn Rand

The harm extends beyond immediate violence to the suppression of individual potential. In collectivist-authoritarian systems, personal initiative is stifled by state mandates, innovation is curtailed by conformity, and diversity of thought is punished as disloyalty.

This not only hampers societal progress but also inflicts psychological damage, as individuals internalize group-based worth, leading to self-hatred or aggression toward "others."

To mitigate these dangers, these ideologies must be reformed to embrace the reality of infinite value in every human being, as described in Ethical Individualism by Rabbi Russell McAlmond. This philosophy posits that each person is infinitely unique—an irreplaceable combination of experiences and perceptions—rendering group judgments invalid and harmful.

Ethical Individualism calls for interactions based on mutual respect and individual assessment, rejecting collectivist hierarchies in favor of win-win relations. Reforming Nazism's remnants (e.g., neo-Nazism) would mean dismantling racial collectives for universal humanism; Marxism and Communism could evolve by prioritizing voluntary cooperation over forced class warfare; Islamism might moderate by emphasizing personal faith over imposed superiority.

“Collectivism holds that the individual has no rights, that his life and work belong to the group... and that the group may sacrifice him at its own whim to its own interests. The only way to implement a doctrine of that kind is by means of force—and statism has always been the political corollary of collectivism.”
— Ayn Rand 

Aligning with Ethical Individualism shifts these ideologies toward the individualistic-liberty end of the spectrum on the right, fostering societies where equality is not a group privilege but an individual birthright.

In conclusion, National Socialism, Marxism, Communism, and Islamism are united by their collectivist-authoritarian nature, viewing people through divisive group lenses that harm human relations and contradict the equality espoused in the US Declaration of Independence.

On the liberty spectrum, they represent a retreat from individual freedom into coercive communalism. Reform through Ethical Individualism offers a path forward, affirming the infinite value of each person and promoting relations built on dignity rather than division. Only by transcending collectivism can humanity achieve true equality and peace.