Comments on: || Private Individualism and Political Withdrawal, Part 3.

By: Mike Davey

Mike Davey — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:08:21 +0000

What’s most striking to me having read all three parts of the series is how the discussion functions as reminder (to me anyway) of how deeply embedded the tension between individualism and the collective is in US culture. In the opening pages of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself (1851, 1881)he writes: “One’s self I sing–a simple, separate person/Yet utter the word democratic, the word en masse.” Admirers of Whitman who see him as one of the most American of poetic voices and as being as important a part of the discourse of American democracy as, say, Tocqueville, point to this line as an encapsulation of the tension your series addresses. The speaker of Whitman’s poem sings a song about his “self,” about his personal identity, his most private and intimate being,; but the words which he utters are words announcing the collective: “democracy” and “en masse,” or altogether as a group. In Whitman’s vision then, there is no self without the collective as it cannot define itself EXCEPT in reference to the totality.

Pessimistically, I see American individualism as having arrived at a highly radical moment, one that idealistically proclaims itself as being simply the valuation of self-actualization, but which in fact is narcissistic and socially destructive. What the respondents claim to mean and what their actual behavior suggests are two different things. And perhaps it is this irreconcilable contradiction itself, this tension that has been with us since 1787 (if literature in the Federal period is any indication) that best defines American individualism.

By: James Araujo

James Araujo — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:59:09 +0000

I have to agree with the above comments by Jasmine and Tamara that voting should be a duty for every American citizen. However, I firmly believe that people have negative views of politics and this become a reason for them not to vote. When they put faith on someone such as Barack Obama, and they see that one man alone cannot change the way serious political issues are treated in Washington, they lose hope in a way that they do not want to be involved in politics anymore. I can predict that the next national election, young people will not show up in great numbers as they did the previous election (unless there is a huge improvement in our economy). So, I think that the problem may not be the people that do not show up to vote, but the American political system; a system that allows special interest to rule the game because of our federalist structure; a system that does not give a minimum chance to a 3rd party to have a seat in congress which would probably represent a significant portion of the population that does not fully identify with either Republicans or Democrats. So, I think that what we have is more of a structural problem than an individual problem. Our political system is broken, and even if we are all politically active as the status quo asks us to be, the problem will not be solved. Americans need to be politically active, but they also need to be assured that their participation is important and that politicians will listen to them as much as they listen to lobbyists.

By: Tamara Mancuso

Tamara Mancuso — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:32:18 +0000

I agree with Jasmine. I am politically active as well and think it is not right to consider the right to vote a choice and not a duty as an American citizen, expecially if a person doesn’t vote but complains when a law passes or someone becomes elected in a position of power. As Americans, we really need to step up to the plate and stop taking the right to vote for granted if this country is going to stay together as the “land of the free” that the pilgrims intended for it to be. If this does not happen, the wrong laws or people could be placed into power just because we all were not paying attention and being engaged so we could have a full understanding of current issues and people who run for office. I think the only way to solve this problem is to have people be educated in politics starting in middle school and high school already (and have it carry over into college) so that they grow up with the understanding of why political participation and knowledge is very important. I bet if this is done, the amount of political participation will rise, expecially after the people in middle school and high school become of voting age.

By: Jasmine Chalashtori

Jasmine Chalashtori — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:39:37 +0000

The concept of politics as a choice, as presented by Dr. Lachelier is a frightening possibility. While I understand the argument that citizens have the “right” not to participate, I believe it is this sort of unhealthy mentality that has produced the level of disengagement that the country is encountering. The right to vote is one that has been fought for extensively in America’s history. Suffrage was unequal upon its inception, despite the fact that the country claimed that “all men are created equal”. This doctrine did not apply to voting; political participation was an arena legally dominated by white, male, land owners. Such inequality was eventually addressed and overthrown, providing access to democracy for all. Yet, people now apply the term “rights”, one on which the country was founded to protect, to justify apathy? While I am sure not all of these people are apathetic, the “go for it” mentality just simply is not sufficient for maintaining a healthy democracy. There is a level of civic duty and obligation that should be felt by the American citizens. Furthermore, when a law passes that does not sit well with a citizen who did not vote under the “right” not to, they should thereby surrender their “right” to complain because they did not fulfill their civic obligation. The right to vote, the bare minimum of political engagement, is coveted by citizens under dictatorships or communist regimes. Americans take for granted the right to vote and have access to substantial influence on the government. It is disconcerting that this seems to be the viewpoint of my generation and that political withdrawal seems to be on the incline because once the time of the politically active older generation has passed, the current twenty-somethings must make the decisions for the future. I understand that politics is not for everyone; like most other subject areas is a matter of personal interest and passion. I know that I am one of the minority of my age group that seeks political knowledge through C-SPAN, CNN and the newspaper and votes without fail. However, it is an area within society that has a profound effect on the life of every individual and that every individual should make a point of participating in by, at the bare minimum, voting. I cannot envision the mundane “go for it, if you want to” mentality as the vehicle for propelling the nation into a successful future. The importance of being politically educated and involved must be emphasized and the mindset of politics as a choice must be discarded and replaced with an ambitious and duty driven outlook.