What’s Right and Wrong With the Dream of American Individualism, Essay Example

First let’s define what American Individualism is. Self-reliance and personal independence are of great importance when considering American Individualism. An example of American Individualism is how Walt Whitman and Robert Frost were able to express their unique ideas of courage and vision to be the first voice of the revolution. This first commenced with European literature then made its way into American literature. His individualism can most be seen in his poem Song of Myself. The poem deals with a blade of grass that is surrounded by other individuals. Each blade of grass may appear to be the same as the other but if you look close they each have their own uniqueness. This is just an example of individualism in American Literature. “Aristotle conceives of ethical theory as a field distinct from the theoretical sciences. Its methodology must match its subject matter—good action—and must respect the fact that in this field many generalizations hold only for the most part.” (“Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy”). “America believes in the self-made man and the self-made woman.” (“U.S. History American Spirit”). At the heart of this paraphrase is the belief that the direction one chooses for himself and the effort he puts into that choice for more outweighs the conviction that inherited circumstances forbears. The heroes of America make their own presence and destiny through individual choices in life and perseverance Americans believe their origins may enrich their lives, aside from discrimination but do not form their final destiny in life. When a situation gets in the way of their ambition, it is a natural thing for them to “fight or flight” to persevere. “Habits of the Heart (1986), by Robert Bellah and his colleagues, is the kind of reading that should be required of all citizens. Based on social research, involving extensive interviews and observation of “middle-class Americans,” it explores tensions that have inevitably arisen between earnest individualism and the sense of community, between a competitive marketplace and social idealism, between rigorous self-reliance and mutual supportiveness. Ultimately, in the last chapter, Habits of the Heart points to ways that a balance might be renewed and sustained.” (Bellah, 1985).

Americans may seem rather selfish and individualized but they have not lost their sense of social order and social obligation.” Americans are joiners and volunteers and philanthropists. They embrace a series of obligations and responsibilities freely chosen, and thereby harness their individualism to social purpose.” (“U.S. History American Spirit”). Just as Asians, Europeans, Africans and Latin Americans hold family to be of most importance in their lives so do Americans. They just view these goals as ascertainable as an individualistic goal achievable by hard and diligent work of the individual himself.

Americans diversity is deep rooted in its culture, religion and social values. America is the land of the free.  Many people desire to come to America because it is known as the melting pot where the individual is responsible for making his own dreams come true. Thomas Jefferson make the mark for saying every person is equal and the government is to protect each person’s inalienable rights to freedom and autonomy. The U.S. Bill of Rights mandates inalienable rights to freedom of speech, freedom of press, assembly and religion. It is up to the individual to ensure his rights are protected under the United States Constitution by way of the Human Rights Laws. Through the frontier experience it is postured that Americans and other settlers to America were taught to be harsh, burly and assured and self-reliant.

With a little history the first pioneers had to make do on their own. For the most part they had to take the law into their own hands and fight for their individual rights. People had to insert individualism from Europe to claim property when coming to America. It was the only way to claim stake to land. Individualism grants and encourages diversity amongst people and nations still today. In business individual proprietorship is still encouraged as for a person to own their own business in America. Americans are inventive and can think on their own which encourages individualism. Some critics say with individualism there will always be an abundance of something and someone will be discriminated against. True, there will always be an abundance somewhere in society but remember everyone in America has the same opportunities as the other person to succeed.

Let’s take a look at the other spectrum where critic’s state individualism is bringing our society to a downfall. “Addressing the moral skeptic, after all, is the project Plato undertook in the Republic: in Book I he rehearses an argument to show that justice is not really a virtue, and the remainder of this work is an attempt to rebut this thesis. Aristotle’s project seems, at least on the surface, to be quite different. He does not appear to be addressing someone who has genuine doubts about the value of justice or kindred qualities. Perhaps, then, he realizes how little can be accomplished, in the study of ethics, to provide it with a rational foundation.” (Kraut, 2010). This way of thinking can be traced back to John Locke who is responsible for the Rule of Law. He emphasizes self-achievement and self-fulfillment but critics today say this type of thinking has brought social problems and failures of our institutions. They feel as a democratic society we can do much better if we stray way from this individualistic thinking that has been ingrained in us since our Founding Fathers. “Locke’s teaching was one of the most powerful ideologies ever invented, if not the most powerful. It promised an unheard of degree of individual freedom, an unlimited opportunity to compete for material well-being, and an unprecedented limitation on the arbitrary powers of government to interfere with individual initiative.” (Andre, 1991).  The founding fathers assumed the individualist approach would shape our socialist world for the betterment of our nation. They hoped that church and family would grow as one in the spirit of one common unity and this is just not happening in today’s society. Critics feel democracy is absent from our nation today as a whole. There is a Lockean political influence which makes the individual man look out for himself primarily which is not good. We are not operating under a democratic society and the fact that our nation’s economy is near recession is proof of this. The federal government has enormously increased its military and governmental power over us leaving us without a pure democracy where we have no choice but to join together as a team rather than be totally individualist. We have to reinvent our thinking and change the institutions that bind us as present and transform our democracy back into a true democracy that our founding fathers meant it to be. We need to practice democracy at home with our families and at work. Educational institutions will be a major guiding force towards bringing a democracy back into America. We must become truly concerned about our fellow Americans and work with each other to work toward a democratic society. “When citizens are engaged in thinking about the whole, they find their conceptions of their interests broadened, and their commitment to the search for a common good deepens.” (Andre, 1991). The reinvigoration of a democracy is a necessity at this time with our economic situation. Our economy cannot be handled by any single individualistic minded person. We must join together and work through these issues together. The end result will be a totally informed and inclined public with a framework of a shared vision of a good society. Citizens are capable of instituting social and political reforms to make changes in the community as a whole. “Based on social research, involving extensive interviews and observation of “middle-class Americans,” it explores tensions that have inevitably arisen between earnest individualism and the sense of community, between a competitive marketplace and social idealism, between rigorous self-reliance and mutual supportiveness.” (Robert Bellah, 2010).

References

U.S. History American Spirit Retrieved October 31, 2010 from, http://en.allexperts.com/q/U-S-History-672/American-Spirit.htm

American Values in Comparison with Ours the American Dream Retrieved October 31, 2010 from, http://referaty-seminarky.cz/american-values-in-comparison-with-ours-the-american-dream/

Andre, C. (1991) Creating the Good Society Retrieved October 31, 2010 from, http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v5n1/homepage.html

Robert Bellah’s, ‘Habits of the Heart’ (Pursuit of Happiness) Chapters: 1, 3 & 7 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Aristotle’s Ethics