Essay On American Individualism

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When America first came to be, there were many unknown lands which allowed individuals to venture off and find a new home with little to no civilization. According to our text book, American Government Political Culture in an Online World by Chapman Rackaway, in the frontier history of America, if a person was tired of not having new opportunities or are part of a minority, they would simply pack their belongings and move on to new and undiscovered lands. Individualism is the reliance of one’s self, which is what these people had to do, rely on only themselves. The frontier age was not a time of social support from friends and families (Rackway). In fact, it was a time to be cautious as there were too many unknowns of the new country. Therefore, …show more content…

We now rely on each other and the government for most of our decisions, and to an extent that we may not be aware of (Rackaway). If we are not sure of something, we usually ask a friend or family member advice on what they think that we should do. This is known as the “rugged individualism,” meaning we count on others. However, it seems that we are also straying away from this form of individualism as well and replacing it with “expressive individualism,” which is rapidly altering all of society (Rackaway). By liking different things such as hair color, music, movies, books and much more, we are creating a society that is unique and different but still comes together as one whole culture. A diverse culture. Another angle of individualism is the individualistic political culture, where the governments only role is to mainly keep order within the marketplace. The government is limited and does not worry about the “good society” and responsibility of one’s actions. Moralistic political culture then stresses the importance of the people with public goods and rights of individuals, allowing the “good society” to be achieved. The last form is, traditionalistic political culture where the government is partially interested in the good of the people (Rackaway)

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