I have been reading Ian Toll’s book Pacific Crucible about the war in the Pacific from 1941-1942 and I
came across an interesting fact. The Allied forces did not seem to think that
Japan could train excellent pilots because of the lack of individualism
exhibited within Japanese culture at the time. The Allies were very wrong of
course, but this question of individualism had me thinking about life today in
the United States. Can we still claim individualism as a strong trait in the
country today? I would answer with an astounding, “No.” You might be thinking,
“Whatever could you mean? School taught me that everyone is unique and
special.” Yeah, they told me that when I was in elementary school too; however,
I have come to same profound conclusion stated within The Incredibles, “When everyone’s special, no one will be.” This is
a very true statement and one that amply puts the argument of individualism vs.
collectivism square in the minds of the young and old alike (because, let’s
face it, The Incredibles was a great
movie enjoyed by all ages).
Still not convinced? Let’s look at how the education system
in this country has been acting as of late toward those individuals who dare think differently or question the academic
status quo or consensus. The first example is of a Columbia State Community
College general psychology professor
who forced her students to wear “Rainbow Coalition” pins and noted that anyone
who opposed homosexuality is a bigot. Another example is the secret removal of a pro-life
display by the University of Alabama. Yet another instance involves the bullying
of a 15 year old high school student by teachers because of his conservative
beliefs. The last incident involves a North
Carolina teacher who said it was against the law to criticize president
Obama in answer to opposition of her comments about the president. I could on
and on with story after story, but you get the point. Coupled with the report
by the American Council of
Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) that the top 25 liberal arts colleges are guilty
of restricting free speech, do any of these cases sound like they are meant to
encourage free and individual thought? No, it sounds more like there is
encouragement of support for only one world view and it definitely is not a
view of freedom and liberty.
What does every one of these examples of educator
intimidation have in common? The professors and teachers are all leftists. When
looking up the definition for leftist on Wikipedia (I wouldn’t recommend it), I
found the most ridiculous definition as one who supports social equality with the
Right Wing supporting social inequality. Isn’t Wikipedia’s bias just
wonderful? Merriam-Webster dictionary
defines the left wing as “the part of a political group that consists of people
who support liberal or socialist ideas and policies.” Thus, a leftist is one
who holds to this world view.
While the leftist might support social and economic
equality, equality does not always correlate with the terms liberty or fairness. Government subsidies, themselves originated from
left-leaning social programs, are even noted by Revkin (2010) in the New York Times as lacking fairness for
certain energy firms while promoting others. Additionally, the Soviet Union
sacrificed freedom and standard of living for its own version of “equality.”
McClelland (2014) states that Communism under the Soviets failed to motivate
the workers to produce enough goods to promote a high standard of living.
It’s quite convenient that these leftist educators are in
league with socialism. Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution,
stated, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will
never be uprooted.” This same sentiment is being bandied about today as the
leftists indoctrinate our children into collectivist drones to serve the
statist agenda. The idea is to get them young so you’ll have them for life.
According to Biddle (2012), “Collectivism is the idea that
the individual’s life belongs not to him but to the group or society of which
he is merely a part, that he has no rights, and that he must sacrifice his
values and goals for the group’s ‘greater good’” (para. 3). This is the
opposite of individualism which promotes the idea that the life of the
individual person belongs to himself or herself. In an individualistic society,
a person is free to choose his or her own path regardless of the state’s
desires.
Why mention collectivism in a discussion about socialist
education? I mention it due to the fact that collectivism is the wood that
fuels the fire of the social agenda. Without all of us being on the same page,
socialism would crumble without the financial support of the agreeable and
eager sheep. A socialist society needs the producers to provide money for the
programs that assist the “disenfranchised.” This is the reason leftists like to
trivialize the right wing competition by making their views seem evil and
uncaring. “The Republican health plan is for old people to die.” “The Right
hates the poor. “ “Christians just want to stone gays.” You don’t want old
people to die, hate the poor, or want to stone homosexuals; so, the left seems
like the way to go. However, none of those arguments are based in reality are
really meant to shame you into buying into their propaganda.
This absolutist avenue of creating a guilty collective
consciousness has worked so well for the Left that they have been organized
against us with almost one central voice. One of the greatest blessings of the
Right, free thought, can also prove to be its curse if we let it. All people
situated within this spectrum tend to exhibit many different opinions which can
divide as much as unite. We need to unite now more than ever because as Benjamin
Franklin said, “We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most
assuredly hang separately."
Biddle, C. (2012). Individualism vs. collectivism: our
future, our choice. The Objective
Standard, 7(1). Retrieved from http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2012-spring/individualism-collectivism.asp.
McClelland, E. (2014).
Communism saved the American worker. Salon.
Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2014/04/01/communism_saved_the_american_worker_how_soviet_competition_raised_our_living_standards/.
Revkin, A.C. (2010, August 2). All’s not fair when it comes
to energy subsidies. New York Times. Retrieved
from http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/alls-not-fair-when-it-comes-to-energy-subsidies/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0.
