The Importance of the Individual

       To determine the strength and well being of a nation, it is wise to consider the individual citizen living in that nation. A strong society is truly strong when the individual members of that society are mentally and physically healthy. When the majority of individuals are healthy and act in a constructive way, the society will flourish. If the majority of individuals act negatively or egotistically, without regard for others within the society, this is sign of a weakening and decaying society.   

       The psychologist Karl Jung describes the process of individualization as the single greatest personal responsibility of every human being.  He demonstrates the lack of certainty that a human being will achieve this goal; nevertheless, to be a psychologically healthy person that positively contributes to the world in which they live, then this must be achieved. He shows that this process occurs in stages and at specific periods of a person’s life. Middle age is the crucial period when a human being must usually sort through the baggage of their previous years. They determine what is necessary, what best represents them, and what is their essence as an individual person. Having answers to these questions they determine what they can offer the world and what place they should occupy within it. In short, the process of individualization should produce a unique individual that can operate as a positive and constructive member of society. 

       Jung demonstrates that while this process requires effort on the part of the individual, it may necessitate outside help as well.  He also establishes that in many cases this process remains incomplete, and as a result the individual person will be hampered in his attempts to live a constructive and fulfilling life.  His research details the way in which previous cultures would help individual members of their societies navigate this process by means of rituals and mythologies.  While older cultures seem to have instinctively recognized the importance of this process for their society, in many cases, outside of psychology, modern society views this as unimportant or a superfluous remainder of less advanced cultures.

       The modern world speaks of individuality and of the importance of the individual; however, it promotes uniformity through media, marketing, politics, and commerce.  Little regard is given to the mental health of individual members of society.  There is small recognition that an individual will need to withdraw from society at some point to gain self-understanding that he may later return to offer something significant or useful to society.

       Many modern societies give little or no concern to the individual citizens; they regard them as a generalized average that may come in one or two variations. It has become a practice in recent times to acknowledge the importance of minority groups; while a positive development on its own, this remains a generalization that uses characteristics unrepresentative of the individual, to determine the composition of a group.  There is a great force within society for the individual to throw aside the bulk of his individuality to conform and unite with the society, and yet, there is no great reason why an individual cannot be the best member of society when he is at his most unique.  The suppression and compulsion to twist the individual to fit the society seems to be based on the assumption that the individual’s uniqueness will be subversive or disruptive to the integrity of the society.

       The individual is the greatest minority within a society, a unique minority of one, autonomous and able to act independently of group consensus.  The individual can do great good and great evil.  It is the smart individual that may invent a new solution to an old problem; it is the selfless individual that can sacrifice themselves to the benefit of his fellow citizens; it is the charitable individual that will stop and help another citizen in need; it is the kind individual that will help a stranger carry a heavy bag or open a door for them when they have their hands full; it is these individual actions performed by individuals that make society operate as something positive.  Conversely, it is also the lazy individual that will trick others into doing his or her work; it is the weak individual that will become an addict and a burden on his family and society; it is the narcissistic individual that will hurt anyone close to him to obtain his personal gratification; the egotistical individual that will do anything to achieve his ambitions; the evil individual that will murder to get what he wants. All the good and all the evil in our world comes from individual people, to ignore the individual is to ignore the source of all our problems and to ignore the possible solution to all our problems. 

       What makes an individual choose to be good or choose to be evil in their actions? Whatever we may say from the standpoint of religion or natural character; encouragement, education, and opportunity play a significant role in this choice. By education, we must understand that this includes more than factual knowledge accumulated in school for the purpose of future work; education includes how a person should act, how a person should see himself and others, and must include an understanding of his own abilities as an individual. Encouragement should include respect for a person’s individuality, for his abilities, and include the real material help to realize his best possible contribution to the world. Opportunity should be practical; it should give the way in each area of human activity, to the individuals who have the talent and ability to get good things done, not only to those born with the right circumstances or for those who stop at nothing to take opportunity for themselves. 

       We currently live in a world in which we say unfettered competition will produce the best results, and yet this encourages people to use whatever means they can to achieve their goals. In some instances they will act in criminal ways to get what they want. If they are not caught, then they succeed, if caught and unable to escape by one method or another, then they are punished. In such a system, dirty tricks are encouraged and those that benefit the most are those that already have the benefit and protection of a privileged position in society.  This is the law of the jungle, and though the argument has a logic to it, it stands in contradiction to other concerns in society; this contradicts our desire for fairness, for merit to decide benefits, our desire for law, our desire for equal opportunity with ability deciding the final results, this mainly contradicts the concept of civilization. In the world of absolute competition and where those with power and influence simply maintain that power and influence, the individual will often be left without a reasonable path to follow in pursuit of his talent and ability, leaving the society without the potential benefits that individual could contribute. This system does not encourage an individual to develop what is best in them, it promotes what is worst.

       We cannot expect a healthy society to emerge from a collection of unhealthy individuals. When the individual is unable to reasonably be himself and to fulfill the calling of the best part of his nature then it is to be expected that he will become a twisted version of himself and a negative weight on the society in which he lives. When the society hinders or neglects the needs of the individual it contributes to its own weakness and degradation.  If we wish to build strong societies we must concentrate on building strong individuals; we must nurture the individual, assist him in perfecting his uniqueness, and help him to accomplish his best possible destiny within the context of our societies.