We have this conception of the solitary individual as free. She has no obligations to meet. She can move where she pleases, free of the fear of offending another or alienating or denying another. But move where? And how far?
To do anything worthwhile as a human being takes knowledge and skill, and we have only so much time and capacity to learn and execute successfully.
The greater the complexity of the task, the more people you need working together on it.
So there is another freedom: a freedom to associate with others and coordinate one's efforts with others to accomplish greater things.
Capital has tried to convince us that solitude is freedom, and perhaps it is if one is living in the woods on nuts, berries, and meat, all procured by oneself with crude tools, and that is all one wants. Freedom then is the ability to pursue one's desires and satisfy one's expectations.
But in a complex society, solitude is constraint. One can do virtually nothing by oneself, so one must associate. But associate under whom? Under which direction? Here capital is ready to welcome the solitary and the ostensibly free with open arms.
