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Adam Hauter
Mr. Turley
English 1 Honors
21 December 2016
Collectivism
Ask not what your country can do for you: ask what you can do for your country. -John F.
Kennedy. This quote is a great example of collectivism, it uses americans sense of patriotism to
persuade them into giving themselves up for the good of society. This sense of collectivism
helped J.F.K.s speech appeal to the very essence of what truly means to be human. Collectivism
gives the problems of society a higher priority over the problems of an individual. Some of the
reasons why collectivism is superior to individualism are: in most cases the problems of society
or the majority have more magnitude than those of an individual, it effectively deals with a larger
populations issue, and collectivism is more broadly accepted by those in society.
The problems of society are always bigger than the individual's, because they affect a larger
majority of people. When we look out at the world and see people, we see separate, distinct
individuals these individuals are what make up the majority (Biddle). When there is focus on
issues of an individual it mostly deals with something that is very trivial. For example, Joe wants
to make a rule to ban anyone from walking on the sidewalk near his house, on the other hand
Joes neighborhood wants to initiate a charity run where participants have to take laps around the
block. It is obvious which of these should be given priority. When an issue is brought up by a
individual it holds less meaning than a shared issue throughout a fairly large group. Groups of
individuals that judge others for how they live is exactly how society decides whether something

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is right or wrong.
The side of society has always been more accepted than the side of an individual. This is
because a person is judged if they act selfishly and decide to not do what is expected of them.
This is completely sensible, because acting on your own behalf without taking into account
others who will be affected is a disregard of what it means to be human. Being a human means to
take care of others and that is what most people overlook when arguing collectivism. Accepting
the position a group is much more ethical than accepting the view of only one individual.
However, the position of an individual is still important.
Without the view of an individual everyone would be the same. This is why many people
choose not to follow collectivism, they feel as if their views are always ignored and are often in
the minority. However, giving an individual too much power can make them corrupt. This can be
seen in the book Animal Farm when Napoleon is mistreated by farmer Jones. As a result
Napoleon and his fellow pigs revolt and make themselves the leaders of the farm and promise to
be better than farmer Jones. Nevertheless, once Napoleon become leader he begins to look at the
world in a more individualistic way. This is seen when Napoleon writes all animals are equal,
but some animals are more equal than others (Orwell). Which can be true in our society, when
an individual has too much power they become corrupt. In the end, collectivism is still the right
choice, it not only dealt with major issues it also prevents societies from becoming corrupt.
Collectivism is more preferable than individualism, because individuals problems are just
part of the societys problems. Individualism is a very inefficient method of thought and
individualism is a very selfish way of thinking that is not accepted throughout our culture.
Collectivism is better is because societys problems are the combination or the final part of every

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individuals issue. For the fairly large percentage say prejudice views between cultures may
result in racism (McLeod). These people are completely right, thats why collectivism is based
on the majority of people not of a certain ethnicity or religion. The true goal of collectivism is to
create a society where everyone is given the opportunity to truly be able to become equal.

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Works Cited
Orwell, George. Animal farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1954. Print.
McLeod, Saul. "Saul McLeod." Simply Psychology. N.p., 1970. Web. 18 Dec. 2016.
Biddle, Craig. "Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice - The Objective
Standard." The Objective Standard. The Objective Standard, 2012. Web. 18 Dec. 2016.