America was built on a firm stance of individualism. Immigrants to the English colonies were escaping persecution and intolerance. The collectivism of Europe pushed people to find new homes, and more importantly, a new way to live. American independence was a result of the hard handed stance of individualism and individual freedom. The Founding Fathers of America intended to create a new government that would show the world that people living as individuals could maintain a homogeneous society.
"The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society." --Thomas Jefferson
Words to this effect held a special power in the early days of the American Democracy. People and their individual rights were the pinnacle of American idealism. If people could maintain their voices and be heard above the masses, then the balance of power would always be maintained. Popular thought held that elected officials were the best and brightest of the American people and the people would always elect those who were best to lead. The addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution added to the idea of individualism and in most minds cemented the fact that individualism would yield a government sworn to protect the interests of the people.
Halfway though the 20th century, something ominous began to happen. Individual voices began to drown out the will of the majority. Individualism began to unbalance the powers that the Founding Fathers so meticulously designed. The will of the individual began to win out over common sense and reason. Frivolous lawsuits, unjust wars, unethical corporate practices, and corrupt politicians have cost the American people billions of dollars and thousands of lives. We are beginning now to understand that any ideal, unchecked, can lead to a society's undoing. The essence of individualism is to choose one’s own standards, or ignore standards entirely, so long as that decision is well-reasoned. The problem is, that reason can be flawed, and a society with no standards will eventually crumble.
"Democracy in itself does not define or guarantee a free society. History has told many stories of democratic societies that have degenerated into corruption, plunder, and tyranny." -- Richard M. Ebeling
For too long now, we have hidden behind the guise of a Democratic nation. Far from the truth, America is no longer a Democracy. Each new President brings us closer to totalitarianism. People's right and liberties are being repressed. Individuals, and individual ideals, are preventing the majority from protecting our precious freedoms. Individualism should not, and probably will not, ever die or fade away. However, the majority needs to regain its voice and footing. Democracy is not republicanism. We are not representatives of our government. We elect officials to govern for us. We elect people who we believe are best suited to make the decisions that protect our rights and interests. Individualism is preventing this. An individual's ideals are preventing the government from doing what is best for the whole of our nation. Our officials spend far too much time placating to every minority, special interest group, and individual within their constituency.
Reason can help us strike a balance between Individualism and Collectivism. The majority can have a voice and individuals can still maintain their rightful place within the American and world society. We must remember that what is good for one, might not be the best for all.
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." -- James Bovard
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new fangled machinery
4 days ago
4 comments:
you have the horizontal plane figured out ... but there is a deeper dimension, which, if incorporated, expands your argument.
the road to the concept of individuality, and to the concept of individual fulfillment, has taken place within a larger context ... and i am going to have to call it collective consciousness, or group consciousness.
there is only one mind.
where we go from here is through the door of seeming individuality, into the cosmos.
(and incidentally, belief will be replaced by experience, and reason simply be no longer needed.)
In reply to Gregory's comment:
People have been making the same mistakes for millennia. Experience seems to have taught us little. It's reasonable to expect that "experience" alone will have the same affect in the future.
ah, we use the word "experience" in different ways i think.
you seem to use it here as the set of events that happens, and call them experiences ... the horizontal stuff i am alluding to.
i am talking about direct experience of the nature of the self, not an event, but a state. it is transformative.
but i think you don't want to hear it, or cannot relate.
Gregory,
I will consed that there does seem to be an unconscious connection between humans. The movement, rise and fall, of trends, fads, and ideas seems to spread throughout humanity at rates quicker than information can flow.
However, experience and reason dictate that these occurrences are limited to material objects and obsessions. Individuality still seems to rule human emotion and the overall thought process.
Are you suggesting that by embracing this sense of individuality that we will eventually discover that we are part of a collective mind? Personally, I think that might be a dangerous idea to unleash onto the American population. Western culture is obsessed with free thought and individualism, and trying to convince most Americans that their thoughts are part of a greater thought process might be a bit too much to handle (although the tide is certainly starting to turn with the rise of religious philosophies, such as Deism, and the influx of Eastern thought into Western idealism). Collectivism is a taboo word in American culture today, which is why I try to equate it to the majority mind; For the same reason that I refer to God as the Creator. Right or wrong, certain words have negative connotations.
As to the idea of experience replacing reason, this idea is irrational and unreasonable in and of itself. You are suggesting that once enlightenment is achieved we will have no need for reason to guide us, because experience will show us the true form of the cosmos. This however supposes that we already now the true nature of the Creator or the cosmos, which is impossible at this point unless we believe the revelations of others. Buddha and Jesus were great men, but reason dictates that we do not take their teachings for granite. If we do, we forsake the ideas that they were trying to impress upon us.
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