Writing assignment: What is one issue that reflects the individualist versus collectivist outlook in your own times? How does it do this?
Well, everyone, this is the end of Western Civilization II! I have had a wonderful time learning about the events of Western History from 1492 to the end of the Cold War, my teachers Tom Woods and Hunt Tooley have been incredibly informative, and I’m ready to cover the topic of today’s essay.
What is one issue that reflects the individualist versus collectivist outlook in my own times? How does it do this? Well, let’s cover collectivism first. Collectivism is an idea that puts cohesiveness and collective worth in the spotlight, while pushing out individual worth. Collectivists value personal sacrifice for the group and society’s “greater good”. In history we have seen this view backed first by German Sociologists in 1930, but this model of collectivism would later present itself as a model of Marxism/Leninism.
What about the opposite pole? Individualism focuses down upon “the right of the individual to freedom and self-realization”. Politically individualist ideologies tend to follow the line of thought which supports civil liberties and is found on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum, as well as anarchism and libertarianism. The real focus is all on the individual, and how every individual has a set of rights protecting them from coercion via the state.
People opposed to this view claim and argue that it is not only selfish but heartless to put the “individual” over the “collective”; that we need Collectivism. My counterpoint (and a common one at that) is that kindness can certainly exist in Individualism. How? Voluntary cooperative groups! Collectivism should not be considered a truly collective effort unless all involved consent to a decision, but that would only be possible in a voluntary, individualist society.
In history this debate has been present in the fight over the technological “revolution”, whether the government should be allowed to survey internet/telecommunications between citizens. Legal rights and surveillance surrounding technology have been important parts of the collectivist vs. individualist debate.
An example of this debate from today’s time I would say, has been the whole Covid-19 situation. Just a few years ago, the world’s governments-imposed lockdowns, reset the economy by shutting down small businesses, expanded global corporations and implemented cashless payments into everything. Many collectivists were in favor of these acts, as the individualists’ view promoted opposition to this, due to the intrusions to choose, and free will. And while the debate against the choice to wear masks in public or no have ended a while ago, people still argue how mandatory taking the vaccine should be. The “health passports” that have been in the works would become a great tool of the collective, surveying and controlling the access to movement, employment and education just based off someone’s health. As an individualist, I hope these never become fully implemented, and that there should be a choice to make on whether you’ll allow the government to jab you with vaccines.
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