Individualism vs. The Conformity of Society
...ty of interests. (Individualism and Conformity in the American Character, p.3). No one in the United States defends conformity. In his paper In Search of Creativity: Beyond Individualism and Collectivism, Professor Ronald E. Purser writes, individualism is essential for “aggressive, creative behavior”. Dependency is regarded as an “obstacle to modernization”. People cannot become individuals if they depend on others and are always going by the book. They must take charge and be creative Smolowitz 2 This country was built on revolutionary ideas of freedom. The founders of this country were individuals. They had ideas of freedom, and they were willing to fight for that freedom. However, they collectively had the idea of freedom. “I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America”- Richard Rapson. “The land of the free! This is the land of the free! Why, if I say anything that displeases them, the free mob will lynch me...”- Baron Von Hubner. America was built on the ideas of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. Yet, the most striking feature about American society is its uniformity. Very few people in this country, or any country for that matter, think for themselves or are even the least bit creative. Everybody holds the same opinions about everything. Everybody is educated up to a certain point, and very few are educated above that point. (Six Months in the Federal States, vol. I, pp. 7-8). The United States of America is known as the “Land of the Free”, yet there are many combines, which restrict that freedom. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, mental hospitals are described as confined mediums in which the idea of individualism is dismissed and the idea of conformity takes over. Mental institutions used to use such means of control as Electro-Shock Therapy to remove the individual out of the individual. The purpose of a mental rehabilitation facility is to cure the patient of whatever psychiatric problems they have wrong with them. Their purpose is not to think for the patients, it is to get them to think for themselves. The ...