Habits of The Heart create a vision of the middle class American life with all its good, bad, strengths and weaknesses. Its examines the conflict that exists between individuality and community in this country, as well as how these conflicts effect our ability to form relationships with others, whether it is in a public arena or our own intimate relationships with family and friends. The very word individualism means to look out for number one, it implies a me society that has lost it’s way from the way it use to be. The title “Habits Of The Heart” creates images of love, faith, hope and commitment to others, a sense of belonging to something larger than yourself. Does individualism really exist, or is it that people tend to forget where they came from and how much they really are influenced by family, community and others around them.
In “Habits Of The Heart” Bellah et al write that “they attempt to follow Tocqueville and call it individualism”. This they say is the first language in which Americans tend to think about their lives, values independence and self-reliance above all else (Viii). Americans separate work, family and community, when in fact, these worlds must be combined. We are hiding in such "lifestyle enclaves," our isolated existence limits our ability to relate ourselves to a broader community. The virtue of community interaction lies in its ability to provide meaning to the frustrating mechanisms of politics and combat the "inevitable loneliness of the separate self" (Bellah et. al., 190).
It seems our definition of success is related to our own individuality. Our view of success is rooted in the outcome of competition among individuals. Americans seem quick to claim that we have each succeeded through their o...
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...t create ourselves. That we owe what we are to the communities that helped form us”(Bellah et. al., P. 295). We have a long history in this country of others who gave and sacrificed so much so we could have our present. We must understand that life is to be shared, it is not a race whose only “goal is to he foremost” (Bellah et. al., P. 296). It is to be lived. We must be committed to those we love, and to our communities. Maybe the longing for nostalgia in this country can help to return to a time when family, friends, community, church and more were important and we all knew we were part of something greater than ourselves. We must however not live in the past, we must use the past to build and focus on the future.
Work Citied
Bellah, et.al.(1996). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
I never even thought about this word “individualism” before I came to America. Instead of collective, normal is the way I considered as my culture, and for American culture, I would say they are selfish and unkindly sometimes back then. However, after my 2-year study here and all the research I’ve been read for this paper, now I say that neither individualism nor collectivism is purely bad or good.
“The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural Value,” written by, Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel relates to values and beliefs of different cultures. These include greetings, jobs, relationships, welfare, and even finances. I have never realized how different some cultures really are. Individualism is strongly touched upon in this short story. My first reaction when reading this was disbelief. I could not understand or believe how different we really are from other cultures. The main topic of this text is individualism between American and Thai cultures. I would also say that the main audience intended for this text would be Americans. The author effectively states that individualism truly has been valued immensely in America.
This article provides me a detailed research on a group of American and Chinese adults with plenty of data and analysis. They provided a lot of real and objective opinion on the comparison between individualism and collectivism. The fact of the whole respondents are students gives me an advantage on finding better ways to understand and use this research in my
A culture’s tendency to be individualistic or collectivistic can be found at the root of
Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. "American Society and Individualism." American Society and Individualism. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2010. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
When you think about family, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you only thought about your parents or close relatives, then you may have been caught in an “individual vs. family” paradox. Nearly every culture considers family important, but “many Americans have never even met all of their cousins” (Holmes & Holmes, 2002, p. 19). We say we are family oriented, but not caring to meet all of our extended family seems to contradict that. Individual freedoms, accomplishments, and goals are all American ideals that push the idea of individualism.
It is human nature to see those who are different and group them into distinct categories. The distinction of Individualism versus Collectivism is one that is currently being studied extensively. On one side, individualism sees individuals as the fundamental unit of a society. Individuals are supposed to be unique, independent, and most importantly, willing to put their own interests above all others. On the other hand, collectivism views the basic building block of society as social groups, stressing the interpersonal bonds between people. Collectivist values dictate that group goals and values have higher precedence than an individual’s. Due to the seemingly polar opposite nature of these ideologies, it is inevitable that they will be compared to see which is more beneficial to the country and its people. Some might point to the success of the US, an extremely individualistic country, in support of individualistic values. They will point to the freedom of choice and diversity that individualism boasts of. Others stress the flaws of the US in response, and while both sides do have their truths, the costs that come with individualistic values are too great to be ignored. Highly individualistic attitudes have caused many large scale problems which have long been identified as difficult to resolve issues. These problems include, but are not limited to, promoting aggressive acts, creating an obsession with social power, and allowing a system of injustice to be born.
Hyper-individualism differs from that of traditional individualism in the way that ‘. . . traditional individualism promoted self-reliance, hyper-individualism has atomized people into a state of alienation’ (Curtis 251). Through this state of alienation, the breakdown of communities began and led to moral degradation, because as communitarians argue: ‘Who we are and what goals we pursue are a function of the historically conditioned relationships we have with those we live among a communal context is a precondition of individuality’ (Curtis 251). This certainly seems true in both LETB and Trainspotting, where tradition, the past and family values, have all but been replaced by cold and calculating schemes, violence and separation. The reason why this is such an issue in poverty stricken communities is best argued through Robert Merton’s strain theory: ‘As Merton recognized, pervasive inequalities in the United States create serious barriers to success for many lower-class individuals. This particular configuration of culture (the culturally prescribed goal of monetary wealth) and social structure (inequality of opportunity) is said to generate strain. In particular, large segments of the population internalize the American Dream ethos but lack the
The next communication gap concerns with the individualism- collectivism dimension, which is the degree an individual is integrated into groups in a society (Hofstede, 2001). Individualistic cultures like the U.S put a strong emphasis on individual autonomy and independence, whereas collectivist cultures like Vietnam believe in belonging, obligation
America has many characteristics that make it the greatest country in the world. One of those characteristics is community life. From the beginning the people of America have always been able to form strong bonds with each other. The sense of American exceptionalism through community life is not just seen in small communities, the entire country has always been able to come together not only in times of need but in times of happiness and celebration as well. Community life has played a role in American history from the beginning, at times it was a benefit and other times it was a detriment, but America’s ability to form strong bonds has always been seen and will continue to set American’s apart from other countries in the future.
Success is not defined by the clothes people wear or the size of your house. The United States is known for the citizen’s materialistic obsession (Seger 1). We attain satisfaction from the objects we possess and often we enjoy our envious neighbors. Money is a symbolism for the definition of people’s success (Seger 1). The amount of money a person has determines the different objects they can acquire. The bigger the diamond ring the more successful you are. However this is not the true definition of success.
Everyone can think of at least one person whom they think has reached success in their life. However, the perception of the word “success” is different for everyone. Let’s take Bill Gates as an example. Many people think he is successful in being the creator of Microsoft. Most people associate Bill Gates’ degree of successfulness with his astonishing net worth of 83.6 billion dollars. And few think he is successful in being a businessman that market products or services that solve people's problems. His extensive knowledge, monetary asset value and willingness to advance people with the use of technology are all ways that society defines the degree that somebody has to succeed. However, is this the best way to measure success? The answer is
Success is a common goal of Americans. The motivated people who do become successful become role models for all other Americans who either struggle or have not yet succeeded in their life. In other perspectives, personal success is frowned upon as they believe it takes away from those who struggle. I disagree with this statement because seeing other fellow Americans succeed gives others hope that they too can reach success. I also don't agree with the idea that personal success devalues the ones who struggle because most people who are successful give back to the lesser with Social Security and Medicaid. Another common belief I tend to
collectivism is the degree “to which a society is based on satisfying the needs of the individual versus satisfying needs of the group” (Hofstede, 2001). U.S. scores higher (91%) than India (48%) in terms of individualism. Individualism (I) stands for a society where everyone is expected to look after themselves and their immediate family only. It also signifies that success is based on an individual’s achievement and people deliver their best performance when they work alone. In contrast, collectivism (We) stands for a society where people prefer to live in cohesive groups that take care of them in exchange of loyalty. They value the welfare of their group, sacrifice for them over their own individual needs and are actively attached to them throughout their life. Thus, the contradiction in the perception of this dimension significantly impacts work relationships between U.S. and
Success is within the mind of the individual. A large portion of ones life is spent working to become successful. People are told throughout childhood to work hard so they can grow up and make lots of money. But success takes many different forms. Different people have different interpretations of what success means to them. For some, success is measured by social status and wealth; for others success is determined only by the amount of happiness one feels.