Individualism vs Collectivism

Claudia Acosta

5/24/17

Individualism vs Collectivism

The Individualism Culture:

In the individualistic culture the human being feels valuable and sovereign of itself, they feel that freedom is the most valuable and that the greatest function of the State is to protect it. They value the freedom of the individual to pursue their economic and political interests. Individualism is not selfishness. They defend and enjoy societies where individual freedom, acts of charity and love of neighbor are respected. They defend personal freedom and expression. They highly value being able to work independently but also accept being able to work in groups. The people in seeking their economic benefit feel that they contribute to the well-being of society.

This type of culture is more common in the United States and some other countries.

The Collectivism Culture:

In the collectivist culture they concentrate more on the "Us" and "Our" and consider it as the most important thing. With this perspective it is believed that the human being ceases to be valuable by itself and becomes one more at the service of society. It is also believed that in collectivist culture is that they consider that most people do not have the ability or the intelligence to decide on their own lives and that there is a small group that do have the ability and intelligence to decide for them. This type of culture enables enlightened bureaucrats to take advantage of the freedom of citizens and to attribute the ability to make decisions on their behalf. In the collectivist culture people from birth are integrated and protected throughout their lives in exchange for unconditional loyalty.

This type of culture is more common in the countries of Latin America and much of Asia.

Conclusion

The individualist and collectivist culture is based on different values, although a type of culture stands out more in some countries than in another, every culture has ethnic and racial values but everything depends on the importance that each individual gives to these different values.

The values that each person decides to apply in their life depends on how identified the person feels with the traditional culture, the levels of education and the mix ethnic.

I want my students to know and understand these differences and beyond the culture and traditions that they have to learn to be themselves, to defend themselves, to defend their freedom and, above all, to believe in them. “To want is power”