Fall, 1964: The Self

Anais Nin writes: "It is from England that America inherited its taboo on the personal. To be interested in self-development, in self-growth, in self-education and improvement is inevitably a symptom of neurosis, narcissism, egocentricity. Never had the word 'ego' been so misinterpreted as in America. The dictionary definition is: 'The self that feels, thinks, wills, and acts.' It is always confused with egocentricity, or egomania, which is altogether another thing. The only virtuous state in America is a collective spirit. Humanism should be the result of such virtue, but it is totally absent. And what can a nonexistent self contribute to the universal? This great American persecution of the self does not recognize the egomania of competition, of ambition and greed. And this so-called non-self has resulted in a people who can be brainwashed more easily than any other because without the self there is no power of discrimination or evaluation."