Riot Police! The Good Side of American Individualism

The Benefits of American Individualism

Over the last few decades, there have been a growing number of voices decrying the rampant individualism of American society. And for good cause, in my opinion. I admit that I have often been found in that camp, because there are a number of obvious drawbacks for our society due to this over-emphasis upon the individual. The breakdown of family structures, apathy toward the common good and our democracy, suburban sprawl and consumerism, loneliness and a growing feeling of isolation among younger people. All of these factors contribute toward a lower quality of human life and toward the degradation of the environment. This is what happens when people lose a sense of communal identity and group-consciousness and become individual actors in the drama of their solitary lives. This is the glass-half-empty side of American individualism.

But today I confess that I am overcome with a sense of gratitude for this wonderful gift of American individualism! There is a glass-half-full side to this reality! I have been observing the reports of riots and mob violence in Afghanistan and across the Islamic world, and I have been wondering: why are riots like this so rare in the USA?

Who in this picture is using their brain?

The conclusion: American individualism! For better of for worse, we Americans are not nearly as prone to a mob mentality as people in other parts of the world. We are much more inclined to think for ourselves and not to allow some bully to control us with emotional manipulation.

Seriously, folks. I know this isn't politically correct, but how idiotic do you have to be to go kill some innocent person just because a "big man" with a loudspeaker is yelling at you and encouraging you to do so? Really?! Let's be honest: I have to wonder if people like this even have a brain, or a heart, or a SOUL, to begin with! Are they even alive and awake? How can you allow yourself to be manipulated so easily by someone with malicious intent? 
Are you even able to think for yourself? Oh, and while we're at it, let's go cut the nose and ears off of a teenage girl who disobeyed her father. Or stone to death a young girl with Down's Syndrome because she maybe was doing something that the Imam says is immoral. Yeah, that sounds like a great plan, people. Very well thought out, too.  

By contrast, these kinds of things happen rarely in America because of our rampant individualism. We are a bit more skeptical of those who yell into bullhorns. Or, at the very least, we are harder to gather together into mobs because we are all at home watching television. (Can the distraction of mass media actually produce a good moral outcome?)

There are riots here on occasion, of course. But nearly all of these in our time are induced by alcohol and they occur after sporting events. That does not excuse the actions of the idiot rioters, but it does make them a bit more understandable. Those mobs throughout the Islamic world cannot use alcohol as an excuse! They are rioting and burning things and killing people, and they are entirely sober! (At least, they claim to be.)

I wish that we had a greater sense of communal cohesion in our society. A greater consciousness of working together for the common good, and for a better world to leave to our grandchildren. Unfortunately, we do not have this in America today. We think much more, it seems, about how to maximize the HD content on our televisions. But I'll still take  American individualism over the potential for a mob mentality. Groups of men like that (and it is always men) exhibit the very darkest side of human nature. God forbid that we ever see mobs like that within this beautiful land.