Hello, just wanted you folks to know I exist here. I'm aeleo and I'm a huge fan of solar punk. I am an egoist-anarcho-communist. I believe in abolishing the state and all unjust hierarchies. I'm not gonna be too active but I thought I'd say hi.
Hi. What's the 'egoist' philosophical or political stance? I never heard of it before... Can you expand a little bit or share any manifesto sort of text??
Egoism comes from one of two sources, so you can pick your poison. Ayn Rand is popular with libertarians, conservatives, and other short-sighted, smooth-brain ideologies. Left Hand Path Satanism is the other source. That form of egoism isn't inherently ignorant, but it attracts edgelords and misanthropes.
Not an edgelord or a misanthrope. I simply take the position that egoism is compatible with anarchism. My egoism is informed by stirner's. I'm sorry you don't like what I think but your understanding of egoism is very poor. I merely did this post as an introduction. I'm not interested in debate. I invite you to read the works of stirner and listen to what egoists like me actually have to say instead of falling for stereotypes.
I'm not an egoist anarchist, but the other answer to your question is wrong and I don't want it to be standing there without correction. Egoism in an anarchist context goes back to "The Ego and His own" by Max Stirner, a German philosopher. He was not an anarchist, but has been and is still very influential on the movement.
I haven't read it myself yet, but read some short summaries. Afaik he wants everyone to acknowledge that we're basically working in our own self-interest all of the time BUT that this requires cooperation and that helping others without immediate material benefit can be part of our self-interest, e.g. because it makes us feel good or because it builds relationships that might be beneficial later.
Egoism works in two philosophical aspects. Psychological and ethical/moral (there is a difference between ethical and moral but here I'm gonna use them interchangeably for simplicity) Egoism as a psychological stance argues that one is self-interest and everything one does is for that end. Moral/ethical egoism argues that one should act in their own self-interest. Egoists like myself use egoism in the political sense to argue that our institutions, religions, concepts of good and bad are merely "spooks of the mind." Simply put they are fixed concepts that only exist to hinder and impede our true nature and we ought to remove them from our behavior and thought process. Egoism in this interpreration therefore allows us to see it as compatible with anarchism because it also believes hierarchies such as the "spooks" are unjustified and should be dismantled.