I never even thought about this word “individualism” before I came to America. Instead of collective, normal is the way I considered as my culture, and for American culture, I would say they are selfish and unkindly sometimes back then. However, after my 2-year study here and all the research I’ve been read for this paper, now I say that neither individualism nor collectivism is purely bad or good.
In the last section, I get to know that individualism is the symbol of freedom and liberty, but it will also cause lots of problem like the abuse of guns and drugs. Collectivism is criticized as taking away the freedom and forbidden a lots human rights, but still, according to Zha et al. (2010), “historically, the collectivism of China, on the other hand, may influence its citizens to become highly skilled, qualified citizens who place societal needs above personal ones” (p. 363). Americans are better at creative area, but Chinese people have advantages on mathematics. Everything can be controversial, so does individualism and collectivism.
To me, I will never give up my beliefs in collectivism and Confucianism, but I do wants to blend some individualism into my identity, unlike some of the Chinese students in America. They came here due to hundreds of reasons, but once they arrived, they
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And during that meal, one of his friends was getting drunk and began to yell and cry. He complained a lot about how hypocritical and cold Americans are and how much he missed his hometown. Since I was here for only a few weeks, I was really confused. Is he telling the truth or he is just too drunk? Are all of the Americans hypocritical? I was asking myself these questions again and again back then and worried a lot about my future. However, with more time spent here, I gradually met plenty of nice Americans and became friends with them. And one day, I reminded his words and suddenly got what he
Collectivism is any philosophic, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human. Collectivism is a basic cultural element that exists as the reverse of individualism in human nature (in the same way high context culture exists as the reverse of low cont...
Individualism and conformity seem to be the exact opposites of each other, but what if being individual meant conforming to the way of everyone else, and what if conformity was the key to being apart of a community? In the essay by Andrea Fishman “Becoming Literate: A Lesson from the Amish” the author looks at the conformity in the Amish culture in regards to education. However, in the essay by Stuart Ewen “Chosen People” Ewen discusses how mainstream America prides itself on individualism. Both essays explore the complexity of being an individual in societies that thrive on conformity.
In the long trek of life, people are constantly chided to follow their hearts, and to be themselves, and to let our individuality run free. As Georg Simmel once said,“The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life.” He is utterly correct. Every person, every mind and every heart, has their own way of doing things. We have associated individuality with singularit...
The word collectivism often makes people cringe. Overall, there is a general fear of not being able to make personal decisions in America. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, collectivism can be defined as; emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity (“Collectivism”). In Anthem, Ayn Rand describes an extreme collectivist society. Although Anthem’s society seems extremely surreal, aspects of its collectivist society closely mirror today’s society.
Collectivism is a group that share one only goal and does not accept any individual to think or act on their own. Individuals should sacrifice they desires for the group and focus only on the demands of its organization.
... have a positive and a negative impact on others. With Margaret Thatcher supporting individualism, she values more about the freedom and the individual rights of people than the security and harmony of the society. She desires a smaller role of government in the society and believes that if everyone is free to pursue their own happiness, positions in society would emerge naturally as people’s potentials are discovered. On the other hand, Mao Zedong’s extreme collectivism perspective believes that all people should be equal, focusing more on the well being of the group than individual rights. He believes that the group is as strong as the weakest link in the group and that revolutionary change is inevitable and violent. Individualism and collectivism are two different principles but with a mixture of both, it can create a balance and a better structure of a society.
The notion of individualism is extremely important in exercising the duty people have to cease from the...
Comparing the past to the present, one of the things that have not changed in the economy is the people’s love for money. Lots of money. There have been many attempts to further increase the amount of money that an economy or an individual can gain. Whether this is through ideas like welfare state where the government supports its people by providing things such as financial support or individualistic ideas like pursuing your own self-interest. The source provided wants all of us to believe that by supporting the ideologies of collectivism through welfare state, it will only result with us depending on the government instead of striving for our own success. The statement from the source, “The welfare state arose out of a misguided desire to
People in American society have their own views about individualism in our country. They choose who they are and what they want to become in the future. Because of this, there are some pros to American Individualism. For example, Edgar Allen Poe was a poet who expresses how he felt within his poetry. His poetry was kind of dark and twisted and is actually a little bit confusing to understand. This is a good example of Individualism because he showed what kind of man he was and troubles he was facing through his writing. In his day in age people were not use to authors writing in such a style that he did. He would get judged pretty harshly, but it did not stop him from writing. In one of Poe’s short stories, “The Raven” the man was grieving about his dead wife. He went into a deep darkness mourning about his wife; wondering, fearing, and doubting about what had happened to her (Poe468). This explains pros of Individualism because he expressed exactly how he felt about her dying. He got to express his feelings without being put down. Being an American citizen he got to use his right of having freedom of speech, which everyone should not be afraid of doing. This shows collectivism because it showed how he wasn’t afraid to express his individuality even when numerous people were making fun of him.
In this paper I will be talking about the pros and cons of American individualism in the stories “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “The Masque of the Red Death”. ” The Raven”, and “For Some Wiccans”. My opinion on the stories, poem, and article and what I think the perfect person would be like. Their are some benefits to American individualism like being yourself and doing everything your self.
“Individualistic cultures, in the western-hemisphere, [such as the United States,] emphasize… personal identity and self-determination. Conformity is far less pervasive in individualistic societies because democratic choices and laissez-faire viewpoints are somewhat considered.”
The next communication gap concerns with the individualism- collectivism dimension, which is the degree an individual is integrated into groups in a society (Hofstede, 2001). Individualistic cultures like the U.S put a strong emphasis on individual autonomy and independence, whereas collectivist cultures like Vietnam believe in belonging, obligation
Collectivism and individualism, both have a fair share of issues. The articles that exemplify both collectivism and individuality are “1984”, “Anthem” and a poem called “Unknown Citizen”. Collectivism and individualism have an even amount of dilemmas, both collectivism and individualism come from totally different perspectives. The Struggles associated with a collectivism is that everything, every action, every thought, every person acts as a whole in unison, so there isn’t any room for different opinions and thoughts, as for an individualist society people have to sacrifice themselves both physically, mentally and overcome their
Individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members (cia.gov). Individualism deals with individual’s self image in the forms of “I” Or “we”. When people in this dimension belong to group in exchange for loyal this is called collectivist societies. Ireland scored high when it came to individualism culture with a score of 70. Irish employees are expected to show initiative and self reliance when it comes to the industry. Ireland has an exchanged-based industry, for one to advance or be hired into an industry one must have evidence of their skill level.
Transcendentalism is a movement that was brought to the global horizon in the nineteenth century through prominent leaders such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The adoption of this movement took a great role in New England, touching upon a variety of categories including, religion, philosophy, and literature. The need for this movement came about as a response to the world’s rapidly changing society. Many were in search of a source to redefine man and wanted an element that would bring about greater self-sufficiency and a more naturalistic view of life. As many started to take on the role that was associated with the adoption of a transcendentalist lifestyle, the far most pivotal element of the Transcendentalism movement arose: Individualism.