Alexsis de Tocqueville is known for coming up with the term
individualism. Individualism happens when a person takes themselves away from
society and they look to themselves for how they are going to act in a
situation. This term is to not be confused with egoism. Egoism is almost the
same thing, but it is more an internal obsession with oneself. Individualism is
where a person takes action based on what they think alone.
Thinking back on class discussion, I realized that America
is a very individualistic society. I have people all the time telling me that I
should go to school and major in what I want to major in. I am told get the job
that I want and pursue my own individual dreams. But is this idea a good thing?
Can only focusing on yourself be a problem?
I honestly think that individualism could be a problem. We care more about ourselves than the common good. I personally think that individualism has led to greed in our economy and producing greedy businessmen that do not care about the employees at the bottom of their business food chain. They could care less if one of their employees cannot put food on the table; they just care about their new Mercedes. Individualism could also be a good thing too. If one only cares what other people think, they will never take cares of themselves. I personally have made some great decisions based on my individual wellbeing and I do not regret those choices. However, I have also made some selfish decisions and I regret them completely.
I honestly think that individualism could be a problem. We care more about ourselves than the common good. I personally think that individualism has led to greed in our economy and producing greedy businessmen that do not care about the employees at the bottom of their business food chain. They could care less if one of their employees cannot put food on the table; they just care about their new Mercedes. Individualism could also be a good thing too. If one only cares what other people think, they will never take cares of themselves. I personally have made some great decisions based on my individual wellbeing and I do not regret those choices. However, I have also made some selfish decisions and I regret them completely.
This picture is by a famous German artist. I chose this
picture because I think it describes individualism quite well. The “Wanderer”
has separated himself from society, just like a person being individualistic
would do when acting out their own decision.
"The Wanderer above the Sea Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich
Your topic of individualism is quite interesting. I too agree that America is a individualistic society. We thrive on becoming our own person at the end of the day. With that in mind if one solely focuses on themselves then we loss track of the whole entire society. So we must create a balance between the two. We as a society must focus on ourselves, but manage to look at the big picture at the end of the day. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading your next blog.
ReplyDelete