Individualism or Collectivism in Society

1159 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Individualism vs collectivism culture

Debate Question:

Which ideological group has had the greatest impact on modern society? Individualism or Collectivism.

Terms:

Individualism-> when you value the freedom and worth of the individual, sometimes over the security and harmony of the group or a belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence

Collectivism-> is basically when you think that values and the goals of the group and the common good over the goals of any one individual are the most beneficial. It stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals

Ideological-> the way we view the world and other people through our beliefs and experiences which shades and changes our action and reactions to the world.

Impact-> to have an effect upon.

Modern-> pertaining to the current time.

Range of Choices:

Individualism or Collectivism

Position:

Collectivism has had the greatest impact on modern society.

Reasons & Evidence:

As said by John F. Kennedy: Ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country. Collectivism has had the greatest effect on society today because it helps to meet the needs of everyone equally. It helps to create equality in society and make everyone work together to benefit all. Things like making people with larger incomes pay more taxes, or people should earn equal wages for work of similar value, and no private property help to make things fair. People function best in a group. Cooperation is beneficial to individuals and groups mostly because people are unique and have different ideas on how to do things. Cooperation is the means through which members of a...

... middle of paper ...

...th it. It makes people want to work harder to make a living and support themselves and their families. Government isn’t involved and people are happier. Also it has impacted peoples thinking. With the rise of global warming and water supplies slowly diminishing people aren’t going to want to be collective when it comes to it. They are going to want to have the freedom to make an individual choice based on what is best for them not everyone else. Our culture views society as comprised of separate independent individuals who are free to pursue their own individual goals and interests without interference from others. In this individualistic culture it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to convince people that they should sacrifice some of their freedom, some of their personal goals, and some of their self-interest, for the sake of the "common good."

Show More
Related

  • Source Analysis: Collectivism vs. Individualism

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Source one demonstrates and embraces the perspective of a collectivist. The speaker of the source, Chief Seattle, a prominent leader of the Native American tribes, represents his collective point of view of how each and every one of us are connected illustrating the “web of life”. His statement indicates his primary focus of how humans are creatures that needs to be dependent on others in order to survive. This view is placed on the left side on the political spectrum with the assumptions that all people are created equal where they value the goals of the group and the common good over the individual goals and rights. The way he stated that, “whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves”, strongly expressed a collective perspective and that the actions of an individual will not only affect himself/herself, but others as well. An example would be global warming, it will not only affect the countries that create pollutions, but everyone else is also involved and affected in this issue. People may call it the ‘butterfly effect’, where it is a scientific theory that describes how one s...

    Read More

  • The Role Of Collectivism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Ayn Rand's Anthem: A Matter of Indivduality

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... an individual, he has his own ideas, plans, thoughts, and is his own being and is looked down upon because of it. This book shows us that Collectivist societies do not work and they lead to brainless, incompetent people who have no meaning in life. The book's theme of individuality and identity show the downfalls of Collectivism vividly and very well. Throughout the book Anthem, the theme of individuality and one's identity, shown through Equality's own ideas, own love, and own ego, are vital to show Collectivism's faults.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Collectivism In Ayn Rand's Anthem

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Recognition of Individuality in Anthem

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... middle of paper ... ...        The metaphysical basis of collectivism is, "There are no men but only the great WE." The moral basis is, "We exist through, by and for our brothers." The implication is that things that exist have the right to exist, and things that do not exist have no right.

    Read More

  • Psychological and Ethical Egoism, Mill vs Kant, and Ethical Relativism

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Egoism is a view that states that what a person wants is somewhat relevant to what humans actually do. There is two main types of egoism: psychological and ethical. These two views are very similar; because of this they can easily be interchanged. It is important to be able to recognize the dissimilarity of these two views.

    Read More

  • The Fountainhead: The Irrationality of Reason

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...bol of individualism. As reason defines, it’s sensible to define individuals, individually; as separate entities. Collectivism, on the other hand, undermines this principle. Ironically, this lack of reason is exactly what allows for it to achieve political and societal success—by utilizing the undefeatable irrationality.

    Read More

  • Individuals vs. Society

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    An individual’s role in society can vary with the number themes the characters exhibit. When there are signs of fate, cruelties, weaknesses, and desires for justice and catharsis the role of an individual becomes more complicated. In Antigone, most of those themes are shown thus a single person’s influence or role on society is very small and complicated to attain. However in The Lottery the society has most of the control and there is not many signs of those characteristics so the role of a person is simplified because they are nothing compared to the society combined. Finally, in The Penalty of Death, there are signs of many of the themes but since it is the societies influence against that of an individuals, it is simplified because they have to work together.

    Read More

  • Collectivism Vs Collectivism

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Collectivist ideology such as welfare state puts the whole state in an economic hardship because we must rely on one another to be able to stand up. However, in a society that promotes individualism economically, we are able to create individual reliance and basically, “each man for himself.” This promotes each person economic freedom and growth because a capitalistic society that rejects economic collectivism does not require everyone in society to “pitch in” and help those who are not economically stable. By relying on welfare state, you are also relying on the pocket of the people. This makes it harder for the state to achieve economic growth since the money is not circulating around the economy. It is being used by those who cannot support themselves economically. An example of this is the ainti-poverty programs in America. Instead of pulling people out of poverty, it is increasing the federal spending even more. America has spent nearly $20 trillion dollars in attempt to defeat the war on poverty. Since the government is spending so much money on this welfare, it is just giving many people a greater reason to stay on the program. According to the Senate Budget Committee, recipients are making $30/hr per household. Instead of lifting people out, welfare state gives them more reasons to stay and abuse the privilage. This does not

    Read More

  • Individualism in American History

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an “emphasis on individual initiative” where people act independently of others and use self-motivation to prosper. The individualists “value privacy” over community the individual thrives to move ahead in life (U S Values).

    Read More

  • Individuality: Threat or Catalyst for Harmonious Society?

    1389 Words  | 3 Pages

    Individuality is the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind, especially when strongly marked. According

    Read More

  • Frame Switching And Intellectual Analysis

    398 Words  | 1 Pages

    I believe that an collectivist will obey an authority figure more, because he believes the collective put him in

    Read More

  • Zombie Apocalypse: Popular In Pop Culture

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    Individualism or communitarianism the two complete opposites on the political compass. Individualism the hands off approach in which the government allows the individual to do as they see as the best for themselves. Promoting self-reliance–individual hard work, ingenuity, and entrepreneurship. Communitarianism is the thought process that 2 minds are better than one in which people come together and cooperate to make a better society. Promoting the ideals to put the needs of the society above their own individual desires. These two are explored greatly in document A but the better ideology for survivng in a zombie apocalypse is Communitarianism. Document A

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Collectivism

    1406 Words  | 3 Pages

    Second, it is important to look at his source for the map. (His source 4) The definitions given there in are not equal to the ones given in the debate. It defines Collectivism as “caring about what others in your group think of you, caring about the image of your group from the outside. It's essentially about image, respect, interpersonal relationships and emotional dependence on the group.”

    Read More

  • Collectivism and Cultural Diversity

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...lture are more independent, there is a need to have a low-context culture. Individualism creates more subjectivity which leads to different meanings within a situation. In order to remove ambiguity, those in this society have to explicitly verbalize all the details unlike in a collectivistic society. In the beginning of meeting new members this would be beneficial however overtime it will become repetitive and unnecessary.

    Read More

More about Individualism or Collectivism in Society

Open Document