Graham Hedrick

David Turley
English I Honors
16 January 2017
Individualism vs. Collectivism
What sounds better? Having personal freedoms and making unique decisions, or
following the decisions a group makes. These opposing ideas are referred to as individualism and
collectivism. Individualism is an idea that people rely on making their own decisions and enjoy
the freedoms that go with that decision making. Collectivism values the group over the
individual. (Nguyen) Individuals are seen as part of a whole and their only value is making the
whole great. The individual is expected to sacrifice his/her own personal needs and desires for
the benefit of the group. The government decides what is best for a country as a whole and does
not value individual freedoms. Although it could be argued that collectivism benefits an entire
country, it is the contributions of individuals that truly make a country great.
People should be in control of themselves; not the government. If the government
controls everything, then nobody would enjoy life. Each person has the inalienable right to act on
his/her own judgement and live up to his/her own values. For example, people should be able to
choose their career path and use their own set of talents. According to Graham, Being able to
identify your natural abilities and deciding what skills you have are crucial to developing your
identity. Collectivism takes away peoples individuality and groups everybody together. This is
similar to communism because the government tries to establish equality at the expense of
individual freedoms.

Individualism allows people to create their own lives and live how they want to. Society
would have no meaning; nor would life, if the government made everybody exactly equal.
Individualism allows people to pursue and master their own talents which actually contributes to
making a society more diverse and stronger because everyone contributes something different.
Everyone benefits from the contributions of other members of society and can share their own
abilities as well. Collectivism means that the individuals life belongs not to him but to the
group or society of which he is merely a part, that he has no rights, and that he must sacrifice his
values and goals for the groups greater good. (Biddle). The costs of sacrificing individual
values far outweighs the benefits of the greater good. People need to be happy and feel satisfied
and valued in order to contribute in a meaningful way to a better society.
It is understandable why people think that equality is good, but total equality is not.
Collectivism means total equality because the decisions made by the government have to be
followed by everybody in society. Collectivism is great for people with low standards, talent, or
potential. This is because everybody receives the same amount of money, does the same amount
of work, and puts in the same amount of effort. This takes away the uniqueness and talent that
individuals have and results in unhappy people who may not work as hard as they would if they
were valued for their individual contributions.
When individuals interact with each other it is better for society. A society thrives when
people are allowed to express their individuality. It is unrealistic to believe that people who are
forced to work in jobs that they dont like will contribute in the same manner or share similar
work ethics. A doctor, shoe shiner, CEO, and farmer who make the same amount of money and
work the same hours will only create resentment and lead to unhappiness and maybe even protest

or revolt. People should be encouraged to follow their dreams and pursue careers that will not
only make them happy, but will end up benefiting the whole of society in the end.

Works Cited

Graham, Stedman. "Your Identity Matters." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Aug.

2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.

Nguyen, Domini. Collectivism vs. Individualism. Prezi.com. N.p., 4 June 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.

Biddle, Craig. "Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice." The Objective Standard 7.1
(2012): n. pag. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.

Thesis on Individualism
Individualism is an idea where each individual is acting for him/herself, making their own
decisions, and when they interact with a group, its as individuals which is better for society.
Thesis on Collectivism
Collectivism is an idea that a person views the group as his/her main goal, where the
individualist does not matter; this idea works the best for society.
List of Arguments
Argument: The government needs to be run by a group of people not just one person.

Counter Argument: The government should be limited so the personal freedoms of people as a
whole are not affected.
Argument: Freedom of action helps develop people's personalities.
Counter Argument: If someone is not all good then a group can decide the best possible option.
Resources
https://prezi.com/nfbi6e81gxmm/collectivism-vs-individualism/
https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2012-spring/individualism-collectivism/#
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sniper.html
http://www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/Rom.html#line-1.1.0
It would be easier to make an argument for collectivism because the US is built on that idea.
Though I agree more with Individualism because lots of the arguments for individualism are
garbage.