Collectivism vs Individualism

Why not think about what you can do yourself, in your family or neighborhood? Why advocate politics instead of focusing on yourself?

As a social democrat I champion collective action, but many, especially in America will challenge this idea. It is after all the land of rugged individualism. Why demand that society should change? Why not take responsibility for yourself? Why not improve yourself? Why not forge your own path?

I think this is the most misunderstood aspect of collectivism. It is this thought that at its heart it is about imploring others to do what you should have done yourself. However even collectivism starts with individual action.

Politics is not made independent of the individual. The point of collectivism is realizing that there are many things you cannot achieve alone by individual independent decision.

It is like 10 people trying to build a house together with zero coordination and zero discussion of the overall plan. No amount of self-help and self-reflection can overcome the fact that your main obstacle in building that house comes from the lack of coordination with the people you are trying to build a house with.

I love the example of biking, as I spent many years in the Netherlands enjoying a fantastic biking culture and infrastructure. You as an individual can choose to be healthier by buying a bike, and start biking to work… but here is the…