2021/10/21 Individualism VS Collectivism.

 INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM.


    The ideas of individualism and collectivism are  interesting if you really start thinking on them. Depending on what part of the world we are from, we have completely different ideas and thoughts on these two concepts. Often we will shudder in horror if had to contemplate trying to become the opposite of what we currently are.

    In South Africa we have strong individual traits, though there are some aspects where we take the collective approach if needed. We all try to get as much of an advantage that we can, we want to stand out and show what unique talents we have to offer. This is especially true in many work places.

    Things do differ in our cities though, the trend is that coastal areas are more individual than landlocked cities. Living in Cape Town it is completely normal to see people freely expressing themselves through their looks. Even men will have their hair dyed in all different colors, tattoos are prevalent, and so are piercings. Personally I often have really long and messy hair because that's how I like it. You will also find me wearing lots of bracelets that I have collected from all the places I visit and multiple necklaces. When I go inland I get a lot of strange looks because I am considered to be eccentric or too casual. In my home town though I teach looking like that and it is completely fine. This is due to the view of just how free we are to express ourselves and be individuals.

    I love the idea of individualism, I see a beauty in it. A person with the confidence to be who they truly are, not ashamed of themselves and what they like, or trying to fit into an idea of what the world expects them to be. Too often we get caught up with trying to blend into the crowd, where I think we all have a duty to let our own unique light shine, and let the world see us for the weirdos that we all are.  A rainbow is beautiful because of all the colors that make it up. Imagine if all of a sudden rainbows were just red..... personally I would be very disappointed! It is the same with human beings, we all have unique colors to add to the tapestry of life.

    Collectivism has its merits..... It helps to create a safe society and lets everyone know that they belong. Also they tend to create more law abiding citizens. This is an observation purely made from living in Africa and then live in Asia and interacting with many different Asian cultural groups. In South Africa all of us think nothing of breaking minor laws and if are going the speed limit then everyone gets annoyed with you for going too slow. In Asia the citizens obeyed the law, it was a strange concept for me at first!

    The one big downside of collectivism that I see is the loss of the individual. If we try to keep everyone in a group and let everyone blend in together and not stand out, then how do we find the exceptional ones! How many artists and great intellectuals don't find their true calling in life as they are too busy trying to fulfill societies expectations to fit in; instead of being willing to experiment, face rejection, failure, and keep going till they have that break through and add beauty to the world for the rest of us to appreciate!

    At the end of the day how we live our lives is up to us. I just prefer a world where we are all encouraged to add to the vibrancy of it over all just blending in.  In South Africa we have a word "Ubuntu" it is from the Zulu language. It roughly translates to "I am because we are." This is the realization that the individual does have responsibilities to the collective, but he does not need to loose his individuality to fulfill them. I feel that this is a perfect balance between the two concepts.

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