Week 6 - 27 May 2020: Response to Individualism vs. Collectivism

Do security and economic status determine our society's individualism or collectivism? Why is collectivism common to low-income countries if the future is more promising to individuals who live independently? These are a few of the questions we ask when talking about individualism and collectivism culture. 

Countries like the United States of America and Canada are known for their self-reliant culture.  At an early stage, babies are trained to sleep in their rooms. As these kids grow older, they are trained and strongly encouraged to do things on their own. Their sense of independence will prepare them for college life and future careers. Individualism culture also helped them cultivate their unique talents and their right to decide for themselves. These countries are now known to be successful economically. They have also proved how prepared they are in protecting the rights of their citizens. Is it not evident that individualism has been and still is the reason why they are way more independent and successful than the other nations who believe in collectivism?

Diane Ravich's article "The Myth of Chinese Super School stated how collectivism dominates in the Philippines. She said, “Children are rarely allowed if at all, to do their own thing without the consent of their parents. Consultation with parents, older siblings, aunts, and uncles, or grandparents is always sought.” Well, I am from the Philippines and I believe what she stated is true to some points.

True because we have that very strong family bond. But sometimes strong family bonds hinder us from moving out. We fear to fail in doing things independently. This fear discourages us to live a new lifestyle or religion and be free to chase our dreams. We thought that working as a group will most likely give us the best results. Maybe these are the reasons why our economic progress is lower than the other neighboring countries. We have the culture of a need to get everyone's approval before saying YES! 

On the other hand, we now have younger generations known as “The Millennials”. This generation is open to changes and adventurous explorations because most of them are already aware of the western way of living. But their independent lifestyles are sometimes questioned by their families who are still living the old collectivist culture. They ask, "Why do you need to pay rent for your own place if you can live at your parents’ house for free!

In my opinion, there must be limits on all things. I admire how the Japanese become successful for having both cultures, for knowing when and where collectivism and individualism apply. Hence, we should do our best to be self-reliant so we could efficiently help the needy. Just like in ESL class, the teacher should be self-sufficient in preparing the lesson plan, so she can teach lessons that would develop each student’s ability to work independently and in groups.