The American cult of individualism
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 07:57:56 PM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  Individual Politics (Moderator: The Dowager Mod)
  The American cult of individualism
« previous next »
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: The American cult of individualism  (Read 441 times)
All Along The Watchtower
Progressive Realist
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 15,426
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: May 17, 2012, 09:39:02 PM »

In America, because of its intensely individualistic economic, social, religious, and political systems, these same systems are "let off the hook", so to speak, for their successes, but especially   their failures.

Instead, individuals are credited for their successes, and blamed for their failures-both by themselves and by society at large.

My general question here is: Why? What makes America so individualistic, relatively speaking, and compared to other countries and cultures? Why are the aforementioned systems so individualistic?


 

Logged
opebo
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 47,010


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2012, 12:02:25 AM »

It looks like collective psychosis, but of course it is indoctrination.
Logged
Donerail
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 15,345
Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2012, 06:28:26 AM »

Is it?
Logged
Tetro Kornbluth
Gully Foyle
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 12,846
Ireland, Republic of


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2012, 07:29:38 AM »

Individualism, used in the way Americans seem to use it, not seems to be nearly meaningless but if it means anything at all, it is deeply anti-individualist.
Logged
opebo
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 47,010


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2012, 01:21:59 PM »


Individualism, used in the way Americans seem to use it, not seems to be nearly meaningless but if it means anything at all, it is deeply anti-individualist.

Yes, obviously it in fact only crushes the individual (except in a tiny minority of cases - the wealthy - for whom it allows complete fruition of every personal impulse and whim).  But taking it at face value - the sort of philosophy of individualism (capitalism, etc), that all Americans seem to accept till it kills them.
Logged
Pages: [1]  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.214 seconds with 12 queries.