The Dark and Bright of Individualism: Pros and Cons Explored

If you want a fiery debate, tell a strong, individualist they don’t matter.  Go ahead! I dare you.

You’ll unleash a storm of intellectual zeal never before seen. Letters to the editor or town will follow.

They’ll inform you of your sins and educate you.  

The above scenario I presented is a political one. However, some people will talk about the pros and cons of cultural individualism. I will intermingle those 2 topics below.

Although I’m an individualist, not every part of life is 100% positive. I must inform you of the downfalls too.  

Also, being an individualist requires a certain personality, you will gain valuable insight into whether you possess or lack these traits.

Pros of Individualism:

Self-Expression and Weirdness

A theme in individualists’ ideology is each person has a unique identity. You’re encouraged to “be yourself”.

While families have similar DNA, each have specific strands making them different. For instance, siblings have many physical similarities. But they possess different personalities. Thus, they have unique features about them.  

Friend groups are different too. In high school, I remember the hardships of navigating the social “clicks” of:

• Goths
• Nerds
• Cool kids
• Jocks, etc.

Within those factions, each expressed themselves in various forms. The goths put their own spin on black. Each nerd liked separate parts about math or science. The cool kids gossiped about different rivals.  

Individualism celebrates the unique aspects of a world full of distinctive people.

Promotes Altruism and Giving

Who doesn’t like the feeling of helping someone?

You volunteer your time at local community centers performing these activities:

• Help tutor less fortunate youth
• Aid in financial literacy
• Play a sport of their choice

Also, donating money is always appreciated by any organization. They will distribute the funds as needed.

One of the main intrinsic motivators is a sense of joy. Yes, some people do it out of pure love of the world.

In the end, you feel good about yourself giving back to your community.

Fosters independent Thinking

Have you ever felt the “a-ha” moment? You feel the sweat of excitement running down your thigh.

These moments are “whole thoughts”. This is slang for innovative ideas leading to unrestrained excitement. You party in the street rejoicing.

I described the power of independent thought. Those feelings are like drugs. You want to keep experiencing them over and over again. 

It is hard to let that high go.

Activities you do fostering these ecstatic emotions are:

• Writing song lyrics
• Thinking of a great business idea
• Outsmart your parents in a debate
• Finish a whole book with a new outlook
• Solve a sudoku puzzle

Each of these examples includes exercising your brain. As a human species, our thoughts created technologies unimaginable 20 or 100 years ago.

 More Personal Happiness

If you’re expressing your interests, you are happier. Your positive energy fills your soul transforming it into a euphoric feeling of “zin”.

Yes, zin is a yoga term. Yoga people always look relaxed and happy. You express your “inner self” through your different body mechanics. Yogis say, “This is your practice. Make it yours.”

Your version of happiness could include fishing, hiking, or walking around your neighborhood

Individualism promotes all of these versions of happiness. The key to finding it is accepting failures as they occur. Take your disappointments with grace.

Also, Thomas Jefferson included “the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. America is an individualist society dedicated to finding your piece of the pleasure pie.    

Promotes Equality and Dignity of Everyone

Equality is a buzzword in today’s society. People misapply this word for equality of outcome for different efforts. The United States’ independence started the conversation of equality.

From the 18^th century to now, our viewpoint of equality developed into what we know today.

Individualism helped free many groups of people:

• Abolished the institution of slavery
• Inspired voting rights for women
• Gained civil rights for minorities

After these movements gained momentum, the elites viewed people with more dignity. Each individual expressed themselves more in what they thought. The shadow cast over them evaporated.  

1. Abolished the institution of slavery

2. Inspired voting rights for women

3. Gained civil rights for minorities

Freedom and Liberty

Who doesn’t like freedom?

In the political sphere, people refer to individual rights and freedom of choice. The Constitution supports this notion with the Bill of Rights. You also have freedom of movement around your country.

Culturally speaking, you have freedom of self-expression as mentioned above. Expressing yourself in the most bizarre ways is possible. If you want to wear a pink wig and purple platform shoes to a gathering, go ahead.

The freedoms you love come only with individualism as the guiding ideology.

Encourages Patriotism

Patriotism and individualism are part of the social class of “isms”. Social scientists and thinkers dedicate resources to analyzing different trends within society.

Yet, it doesn’t take a scientist to state that Americans are one of the biggest lovers of country. American’s strong desire to protect the homeland is obvious.

Look at the dramatic volunteers for the military after a tragic event. For instance, my grandfather volunteered to join the military during World War II.

After 9/11, over 181,500 Americans enlisted. The United States government marked this as an 8% increase in joining the military.

We accept our history and know it has its rough parts. Despite all that, our individualist self wouldn’t want to live in a country that hates itself.

Civic Engagement

What exactly is civic engagement?

Referring to the introduction, I mentioned strong individualists will debate you.

Essentially, they are active in local, state, and federal governments. They keep their representatives informed of their viewpoints. A core principle of republicanism is civic involvement. 

The Founders encouraged citizens to join local “committees of correspondence”. Civic involvement created the liberty and great country you see today.  

It also promotes volunteerism in different methods. Look above to my altruistic point.

Stands Up to Authoritarianism

Tyranny destroys lives and communities. Nothing good comes from it. Authoritarian leaders suppress independent thought.

They raise barriers to keep people from discussing the issues of the day. Dictators must maintain power at all costs. Individualists, however, protest against this injustice.

Again, a common theme you will see is we are strong-willed. In this case, they stand up against tyranny hand-in-hand.

Defeating oppression increases a sense of self and the good of individualism.  

Upward Mobility

The American Dream is upward mobility. Each generation builds on the other. Your son or daughter lives a better life than you.

America has the opportunity. For all the doubters, nothing worth appreciating is rarely cherished if given.

Here are some examples of upward mobility:

• Owning your home
• Achieving personal security from exterior threats
• Having a group of friends that you care about

Upward mobility doesn’t always mean economic. Accomplishing your personal goals is good enough. Individualism emphasizes the small joys of life too.  

Less Stress About What Others Think of You

You hear how individualists are selfish. We will talk more about this specific issue in the cons section of this post.

If that is the case, then you care less about how others perceive your actions. You live more of a more cheerful life without worrying about offending people.

That is a freedom in itself. Less stress equals a better life.

Live by Your Own Time Schedule

I know you like controlling certain aspects of your life. You’re a busy person. And scheduling is a drain on this precious resource we call time.

Therefore, if you are the master of your own timetable, you give and take on what you give your attention to.

Here are daily drains on your time:

• Studying
• Daily chores
• Other random events that pop up
• Scrolling social media

If you find yourself wasting too much time:

Increases Motivation

All you must do to muster motivation as an individualist is play your favorite band loud. Listen to a ballad for the best results.

When I’m wanting to write the best material for you, that’s what I do.

How does being an individualist inspire motivation?

This is an age-old cliché of “glass half-full vs glass half-empty”. We are “half-full” people and self-motivated.

If you’re not, my goal is to help you achieve that one day in your life. Keep reading my posts to inspire your motivation.

Greater Tolerances of Others

America is a diverse country of different opinions. With great tolerance, we manage through tough times.

Part of civil society is listening to your rivals. Some of their arguments I find misaligned with my goal of liberty. Yet, I’ll listen to them since I value freedom of speech.  

Remember our First Amendment rights!

Thank the “Anti-Federalists” for lobbying for those rights in our founding documents.

Creativity and Innovation

This is one of the most well-known parts of being someone who values individualism. The creative process is strong in this group of independent people.

We’re problem solvers at our core. We love a challenge. It sparks our innermost desire to feel and start our creative engines.

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Cons of Individualism:

These are the bad parts of individualism. I acknowledge they are our problems to solve. Many of the cons are from scared people searching for more meaning in life.

Feeling of Isolation

Individualism affects people in different ways. For some, it atomizes them. This is a fancy word for separating people into groups of only 1 person. You act as a solo unit looking out only for yourself.

If this is you, you lack a community of friends to bounce ideas off of. Your phone is silent from text messages. Because no one invites you out to fun activities.

Scholars blame this on the following:

• Technology
• Urban sprawl
• Centralization

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Too Much Pride at Times

Rugged and Expressive individualists are prideful. Suppressing your self-respect is necessary to maintain humility in certain instances.  

Unproductive arguments lead nowhere. A referee can’t solve all your problems.

The solution is to shelf yourself and negotiate. You’ve heard the common phrase “pick your battles’.

You pick your battles with your:

• Wife/Husband
• Children
• Parents
• Friends

Makes Relationships Difficult

In May 2021, the American Perspective Survey stated 56% of participants were satisfied with 4 to 5 friends. There is no clear number to how many close friendships you need. You define whether someone is an acquaintance or not.

But individualism affects close relationships. Disrespecting your elders or your parents causes animosity. Any type of conflict has consequences.

You forget how your independent nature influences those who care the most for you. 

Economic Inequality

Critics say supporters of individualism justify economic inequality because of responsibility.

Capitalism and individualism are related. Each one complements the other. It takes innovative people to make money in a capitalist society. Having a strong work ethic is a must. Thus, innovation requires responsibility.

The opposition’s solution is to socialize many parts of life. In other words, the government gains more power. As a result, people end up with endless and unsustainable lists of wants and entitlements.

Socialism and capitalism have issues. At least, you have a chance to provide your own path in an individualist and capitalist society.

Not for the Weak-Minded

Being an individualist is all about being yourself and strong. You’re unique.

Pop culture supports this claim. You see images of rugged and expressive individualists on tv.

Rugged types are cowboys accepting any challenge. Expressive types are teenagers dressing in goth to rebel against their parents. They want to bring attention to themselves.

Both examples are tough and stubborn people.

I don’t know where you lie on the rugged vs expressive scale. However, I do know what happens to weak-minded people. They are:

• Bullied
• Shamed
• Left behind

None of those are good places to reside. It takes a good-willed leader to help the less confident.

Selfish Behavior/Lack of empathy for Others

This is the one negative everyone likes to mention.

“If you’re an individualist, you’re selfish and only care for yourself.”

Do some people have those qualities? Sadly, the answer is yes.

But is it as widespread as everyone says? No, it isn’t.

“Self-interest” is the buzzword you’ll hear critics mention. For them, this causes others to be selfish.

Examples used to demonstrate selfish behavior include:

• Not sharing
• Not teaching people who fall behind
• Not taking responsibility for actions
• Manipulating others
• Viewing themselves as the only person living on this planet

A positive of individualism is that you know those are limited qualities. Because you see others as unique and don’t classify them into one group- a selfish collective.  

Less Fulfilling Life

Depending on your goals in life, achieving high social status is great. But it leads to a less fulfilling life. Independent thinkers obsess over the details of their master plans.

Nothing should obstruct their path to victory. Individualists’ work ethic is great in some instances. Yet, when you miss important life events, it makes it hard to look back on your life and accept all the steps you took.

Missing your daughter’s wedding or son’s championship baseball game are memories you’ll miss.  

A less fulfilling life links to feeling isolated.