Analysis Of Individualism And Collectivism In America

In Stephen King's memoir, On Writing, he discusses many of the fundamentals of writing he believes are crucial to great writers. In the part of the book titled, "The Craft of Writing," King reveals some of his many rules which have led to great success in the writing field. Out of the many points he explained, I noticed three rules that could benefit my writing the most as an AP Language and Composition student. Though simple, these rules opened my eyes to how I could advance my writing skills by following a few easy fixes. King trusted in writing dialogue truthfully, using the most appropriate vocabulary, and his process of revising. By adhering to these seemingly simple tasks, a student's writing quality could increase notably.

The modern world is dominated by an astounding amount of humans, yet unfortunately, a significantly lower count of individual people. An individual is someone who sees the world through their own eyes, thinks their own thoughts about it, and disregards any outside attempts to sway their opinions. These innovative people allow society as a whole to progress, and a lack of them dramatically slows change, be it good or bad, leading to a stagnant world in which humanity rejects all change and progress out of fear. This hypothetical is silently creeping into our reality today, as the current societal machine quietly disallows many once open paths

We’ve all heard it: the strong academic record, proficient in three sports, president of a few clubs, vibrant social life, and still getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night. The idealistic belief of a student, a goal to continuously strive towards. As students in a stressful, sometimes competitive atmosphere, we evaluate ourselves often and notice our flaws, but often miss our strengths. The idea of an idyllic description of the proper student forces down the general individualism often treasured in a learning environment. Rather than pushing down a student’s personal identity, it is necessary to express yourself and be your true self in public.

Growing up as an Immigrant in America, you grow to learn social conformity is prevalent and plays a key role in the systematic oppression of free thinkers. Social conformity does not only dictate the way you view issues but also makes you shy away from letting your own beliefs be heard. There are many ways people conform, television and social norms being the predominant forces. By having observed these behaviors at an early age, I’ve grown to develop my own moral judgment and have met like-minded individuals who share the same outlook on the ills of society.

Throughout the course of one’s education, the importance of reading and writing is emphasized very early on. Children learn to recognize and construct letters of the alphabet before grade school even begins. Kindergarten is where the first stages of word development start and from that point forward, the rules of writing are given emphasis. From simple guidelines such as the difference between nouns and verbs to more complex theories including rhetorical strategies and proper essay formatting, students are expected to keep up with the new levels of writing year by year and not one person misses out. As a student that has been in the public school system since the beginning, my writing experience has been extensive, full of countless rules and guidelines, and highly criticized, but could always use some more work.

Collectivism- is a perspective that features political, economic or social outlook that emphasizes the independence of every human in society or groups. Collectivists focus on the community, society and the whole nation. Collectivism is used to refer to a number of different political and economic history (Prezi, 2011). Collectivism offers better support and benefits to vulnerable people in society, this includes the disabled, homeless, the elderly and the children. All these group of individuals are given supports for examples, disability living allowance, pensions, child benefit and house benefits (Wordpress, 2013).

Individualism first appeared in America in the early 17th century with the arrival of the Pilgrims, a people facing religious persecution in their home country of England. While they did indeed band together as a group under a common cause, their fight for the ideals of personal liberty was an individualistic one. This individualism thrived during the Revolutionary War as the Americans created their own democratic nation in response to a monarchy that would not allow them to govern themselves (Bellah 142). Individualism fueled the American dream of bettering one’s life using one’s own grit. It was the defining ideology that led pioneers out west to start afresh. Up until the 1950s, however,

The utopian society in the Brave New World can be compared and contrasted between our contemporary society using individualism, community and the human experience. The fictional novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932, is about a utopian society where people focus stability and community over individuality and freedom, but an outsider is introduced to intervene with the operation of the utopian state. In the contemporary world, people need to show individuality in their communities in order to survive, and to be human, one must show emotion, which is the opposite in the Brave New World.

In today's society, the balance between individualism and conformity to society's expectations is a prominent and deceptive conflict. Oftentimes, the individual must put his uniqueness aside and settle for a view of an occupation, hobby, or idea that society agrees with. Instead of expressing original and creative ideas, they are held hostage by comparing themselves with the lives and accomplishments of others and the standards their our society. One of the biggest tools of society, social media, allows people to share ideas and interests with everyone. However, naturally, one will only post what he knows others will accept and enjoy just as he does. This, in turn, does the opposite of what social media were intended to do. Instead of allowing the expression of unaltered and original ideas, it is a platform of suppressed individualism which only encourages mainstream concepts.

America’s identity is defined differently by every individual. Ideally it was to be a place of freedom and acceptance, identified by its message of liberty and hard-work, however the question arises whether America is a melting pot in which only one culture dominates or it a mosaic of many peoples’ histories. America’s potential and true identity lies within its ability to assimilate and create a natural individualism despite race, class, and immigration standing.

The ideas I hear and experience today come from individualism. The ideas of collectivism and the ideas of what I hear around today are not that alike. In fact, they are quite different. The idea of collectivism focuses on the thought that the individual’s life exists not for him but rather for the group or society of which he is solely a section of, that he has no entitlements, and that he should give up his qualities and objectives for the gathering's greater good. According to collectivism, the gathering or society is the fundamental component of virtuous concern. However, the idea of individualism is that the individual’s life exists for him and that he has an unavoidable entitlement to live it as he wishes. A person’s independent life means to follow up on his own judgment, to keep and utilize the result of his exertion, and to chase after the estimations of his choosing. Individualism is the thought that the free spirit is sovereign, an end in himself, and the principal component of righteous concern. This is the ideal that our society upholds till today. Our society made a nation in which the individual’s rights to life, freedom, property, and the pursuit of happiness are perceived and

In this section, I am choosing China to do my research of the cultural dimensions. Individualism and Collectivism in China are not even considered. Individualism is about ones self and doing what needs to be done for yourself not others, based on independence. Collectivism is based on group goals rather than individual goals. Chinese tradition is opposed to individual glorification and considers anyone who desires personal enhancement as a threat to collectivism (Pye, 1982). Chinese are more group-oriented, they value respect and friendship. China is more Egalitarian, meaning that they share power and share authority and spread the authority out evenly. They do not expect all power as some cultures do. Next is Performance orientation, which means when the community encourages and rewards good things done and completed. With this China is midrange and rapidly developing performance orientation in the workforce. ` Future Orientation involves the degree to which cultures are willing to sacrifice current wants to achieve future needs` (Cardon, P. 2013 Pg 13). This, in turn, means some live in the moment and do things on the spur of the moment while others plan accordingly. And in so many ways Chinese live in the moment. Now with China, they are on the low side of assertiveness. `Everything is difficult, but everything is possible` ( Cardon, P. 2013 Pg.14). So meaning that yes when things get hard you must work more to try and

Nearly all religions in these respective countries are public in this way that the religions enrol their followers to get together in public places to worship. This cultural innovation, individualism and voluntarism contribute to the great diversity among the people of North America. Now, I am going to design the religious pluralism and cultural diversity based on their own country’s perspective.

Individualistic culture is a culture where people cherish liberty and privacy and often trust their personal ability to emerge victorious and successful in their endeavors. Whereas, in a collectivist culture, people emphasizes the collective need of the society in general. America is a typical example of an individualistic culture, while Japan exemplifies a collectivist cultural characteristic. McLean (2010). The fundamental differences between an individualistic cultural system and collectivist cultural system is that people raise in an individualistic culture value freedom and they trust that with determination and perseverance, they are well able to wither the storm of life. This ultimately is how they view the world while in a collectivist culture; every focus is on the country. Comparatively, while an individualistic culture strive to achieve

Though different, collectivism and individualism both have value within their contexts and show the values of their people. Collectivism values the individual’s membership and participation in the group as a whole. Contrarily, individualism esteems the individual’s ability to separate himself from the group and think for himself. Though often not recognized, both of these dimensions can exist within a society and add depth to its