America and Individualism

A detailed Summary of America and Individualism

The United States of America is the land of the free, the land of opportunity, the wealthiest country in the world, a country that half the modern world is modeled after. Its President is referred to as the "Leader of the free world". Thousands of people come to this country every year, learning about the country in hopes of becoming citizens. William Hudson in his book 'American Democracy in Peril ' talks about the seven biggest challenges to this democratic nation.

Individualism can be seen as a gift or a curse, depending on the context in which it occurs. Because modern society finds it important that people think independently, decide autonomously and take personal initiatives, the concept of individualism has acquired a positive connotation. However, individualism is also linked with the tendency to withdraw from social life and turn in towards oneself. Alexis de Tocqueville described individualism as the cool and considered attitude which drives people to withdraw into a small, enclosed world consisting of their family and a few select friends, leaving the rest of society to its own devices.

The most obvious problem stemming from the process of individualism is of a socio-economic nature and concerns the problem of s

The Founders believed in men's right to choose the government they lived under, and they believed that to protect the ability to exercise that right, that particular government could not be allowed such a monopoly of weapons as would enable it to control the majority without their democratic consent. In order to prevent tyranny, then, keeping arms and practicing their use had to be a civic duty and a legally protected individual right. They believed a widely-exercised individual right to keep arms was necessary as a civic function, for the good of society as a whole, and of course believed that people with arms, like anyone else, were subject to law, to civilization, and to basic rules of behavior, and had duties as citizens to protect each other's freedom and safety. However, these were obligations whose existence did not depend on the particular government that the people had chosen. In fact, the government was subject to these things just as much as individuals were. Individualism taken too far could undermine democracy and make society vulnerable to despotism.

The passions of men and their Intellectual life would be substantially modified by democracy. Under pressure from individual autonomy, opinions would be relativized, mores softened. Public opinion becomes the sole authoritative voice. While individual rights govern the lives of men, the ends of man fall into neglect. The morality of life is emptied from the democratic vessel. The passion for equality, natural to democracy, trumps every other concern, and begins its endless struggle to eradicate the natural inequalities of men.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Democracy Peril, Constitution Individualism, American Government, United America, Separation Powers, Supreme Court, Senate Congress, William Hudson, moderate democracy, framers constitution, stop short democracy, government centralized, checks balances, short democracy, stop short, separation powers, social institutions, particular government,

Approximate Word count = 1077
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous