Hedonism = the philosophical belief that pleasure, or the absence of pain, is the ultimate good and primary goal of human life. 

The notion that all humans are hedonistic, in pursuit of only pleasure for themselves, is necessary to the furthering of oppression, capital, and the structure of society. This notion is largely false in that hedonism is not intrinsic, it has been learned. Not to say that human nature is naturally benevolent, but that human nature is fluid. 

Taught hedonism 

By this I mean that people are taught to prioritize themselves over others, placing personal satisfaction and ego over empathy or communal responsibility. In this view, people are not taught about seeking pleasure in a harmless sense, they are taught subtly that their desires matter more than others. Competitive schooling, corporate hierarchies and celebrity culture rewards assertiveness, dominance, and detachment, often at the expense of others. Over time, an individual sees others as obstacles, tools or background characters. When society repeatedly rewards self serving behaviour with higher pay, recognition, and authority, it teaches that empathy is merely an option, not necessary. Success belongs to people who act ruthlessly, if this was not taught, there would be less need for anti-cheating devices, and in sport, the honour system would work better. This form of hedonism as human nature, that humans are self centered, filled with greed by default, has been used for centuries to oppress the masses. 

advocating for authoritarianism

If all humans are only in pursuit of selfish pleasure, they will rape when they want sex (although rape is about power not desire), steal when they want food, kill if it brings them sadistic pleasure; it follows that to maintain order we must control these people, we must organize them, and make consequences that outway the pleasure found through “bad” channels. This is more general, but this hedonism is applied to certain people more than others, in that all are hedonistic, but some have been civilized and brought away from barbarism through discipline. Hedonism is natural and through authority we are purified. Through the light of God with strict moral structure or other authority, in more modern times the parent, the teacher, the law and so on. At a young age, the child is not “selfish” per se; they act to survive, their complex to center themselves is necessary. However, as this label follows children out of the toddler phase, genuine acts are perverted. Have you heard of people calling children crying or tantrums “manipulative”, not just children not being able to manage emotions due to limited cognitive ability? This idea that humans will lie, cheat and steal from a young age is there to give reason for authoritarianism, many times under the guise of safety. More cameras, more police, more guns for the police, more power for the police, less rights. One of the most pressing examples is the criminalization of delinquency. Delinquency are small crimes, like truancy (skipping school), vandalism, curfew violations, and “disorderly conduct” (this is most obvious). These behaviors are considered “status offenses”, meaning they are only illegal because of the person’s age. Things like “zero tolerance policies” , strict disciplinary policies that lead to suspension, expulsion, or referral to law enforcement for relatively minor misbehavior, contributing to the school to prison pipeline, together with heavy police presence, increases the likelihood of small things escalating into arrest instead of being resolved informally. In schools students are encouraged to “report” their peers for small infractions, such as cheating, smoking, playing games and other things (not including severe bullying and such) – this should be stopped. It fractures the unity in the student body and stops them from learning to resolve conflict without an authority. Solving problems internally has more effect. Injustice may happen, however, I trust that as people move into adulteration the world doesn’t need to be so hedonistic, as long as it is not taught to us. 

The furthering of capitalism 

In the context of capitalism, the assumption that humans are fundamentally self interested has often been seen as the primary way that humans moved forward. Adam Smith (wealth of nations “people started saving” guy) argued that individuals pursuing their own gain could benefit society through market exchange. Over time this has evolved the broader cultural belief that competition, ambition and accumulation of wealth are natural; to work against your fellow friend to reach a goal is natural. Capitalism reframes hedonistic drive, profit, status, consumption, as productive. The selfish impulse becomes legitimized so long as it operates within the bounds of the market. In contrast, socialism challenges the moral centrality of individual accumulation. Karl Marx and fans critiqued capitalism for institutionalised self interest and alienation, instead proposing cooperation and sharing to reflect the collective human potential. To question hierarchy and concentrated power has often been framed as unrealistic, and ignoring human nature. This is why the USSR has been the biggest disaster for socialists; yes, it allowed momentary spread of communism, but as the leaders did not break from this hedonistic mindset, they have set back the liberation of workers years. Seeing leaders parading comfortably as the masses starve is not socialist, they had dreams of power as they had not broken from capitalism. On the other side, leaders like Sankara have shown how socialism can work, that humans are not pure greed as he broke from capitalist society. His government rode on bikes, he refused photos of himself in government buildings, improved literacy from 13% to 73%, introduced women into the government, I could go on forever. His story ends badly; the CIA staged a coup with his partner to take over and reinstate neocolonialism, and his partner did not separate from the myth of the hedonistic man.

Thus, the narrative of inherent selfishness serves the function: it justifies competitive economic systems while discrediting alternatives that rely on solidarity. If humans are assumed to have irredeemable self interests, then systems built on corporations appear naive, and authority shifts towards protecting markets rather than social relations. 

Human nature (my opinion)

As stated earlier, the nature of man is not static, it flows with the conditions. When conditioned to be cruel and hedonistic that is what humans are. I believe that through the softening of competition, extending more grace, and allowing for more freedom, man will become more ethical, moving away from hedonism. Anarchists argue this, however those who want anarchy founded through violence, storming government buildings, do not want peace. They want the freedom to perpetuate violence. I am not an anarchist because I believe in a comprehensive government, not founded on the need to punish, but on the need to uplift the people. If a government focuses less on their economy and their need for control, they will find that by improving the lives of the people, the prisons will become more and more obsolete. By decriminalizing delinquency and inviting unity over competition, a peace will be met. While there are still bad actors, who act out of malice,

“We must choose either champagne for a few or safe drinking water for all” – Thomas Sankara