Transcriber: Evelyn Bagley Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
Individuality is one of the utmost essential parts of American culture,
the idea that here you are free to do as you please without your neighbor
or the government telling you what you can and can't do.
However, this seems to have translated into a general lack of empathy
for one's neighbor. You may see people on your local street corners,
maskless and claiming that being forced to wear a mask is
a violation of their personal freedoms.
So, how did we get the idea that our personal freedom gives us
the right to put others in harm's way?
Somewhere on the quest to protect our individual liberties,
we have gripped so tightly onto individualism that we seem to have lost
our ability to be collectivists. And this isn’t just something that’s come about
in the past year. Our founding fathers brought us life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
President Hoover of the 1920s brought us rugged individualism,
the idea that a true American succeeds without help from the government.
And this past year has brought us Southern California residents maskless
and holding signs that say, “We will not comply.”
And this American individuality complex isn't just
an observation. When given tests or surveys,
it has been found that Americans are the most likely to try
and gravitate towards what will make them seem the “most unique.”
And while this may be harmless
in low stakes studies determining what Americans want to gravitate towards,
it can have a high stakes impact.
Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia,
Bo Byron, stated that across eighty three countries they found
the same result, that the most individualistic countries were
the least likely to engage in social distancing practices, and therefore had
the highest infection growths.
Even as a young person, I can pinpoint times in my life where
I have felt that conformity was the enemy of my individuality.
In eighth grade, I ditched Taylor Swift for more “underground” indie bands.
I cast aside my Converse for a pair of more quirky Crocs
because society was telling me that in order to have value,
I needed to be different from the rest.
I watched movies where over and over again,
I was fed the same lines, that a girl was only desirable because she was not like
the other girls. This individuality complex can harm us not only politically
and culturally, but socially as well.
It can make us abandon our true interests to seem “more unique.”
But we are oftentimes just left less ourselves.
I studied Robert Frost in my English classes. And my teacher read me his words;
“Two roads diverged in a yellow woods, and I chose the road less traveled by,
and it has made all the difference.”
My teacher used this poem to tell me that I should be a trailblazer,
a nonconformist, because it makes all the difference.
This poem has become a celebration of individuality and of marching to
the beat of your own drum.
This has become one of the cornerstones of our nation’s principles.
But oftentimes nonconformity is missing the point because in this poem,
Frost never states what the “difference” is.
This word no way conveys whether the difference is bad or good. That word,
rather, emphasizes the importance and inevitability of choice.
This past year, Americans have been given a choice,
a choice between temporary masking,
a collective sacrifice for the greater good, and rioting on
the streets of Huntington Beach, maskless and claiming tyranny.
Some Americans have chosen the latter. And it did make all the difference,
the difference between empathy,
safety and control, and number one COVID cases in the world.
And while I in no way mean to blame this entirely on our nation's citizens,
as I do recognize in many ways,
we have also been failed by our government and those meant to protect us,
I think maybe it’s time that we take a step back and evaluate our entitlements.
And lean further into our compassion.
Time and time again, our nation fails to adhere to the principles that we hold
dearest. We relay the words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
But these words have no meaning when we use them to justify violence against
one another. In order to get through this,
we must learn to be collectivists as well as just individualists.
We must lead with compassion, empathy and unity.
Collectivism is our way through this. Thank you.