Self-Determination Throughout the Course of History
It is in the context of history that our need to return to the values of individualism becomes most apparent; our place in the world is threatened if we do not. Currently we enjoy a higher level of self-determination than most of the world. Yet we are not the first to achieve this; history is full of examples of cultures which have risen far above the others of their time. Greeks, Romans, Mongols, Moslems, the list goes on and on.
All of those cultures developed because of the same reasons: they possessed two qualities, belief and fluidity. People must believe in a vision of the future, that whatever they hope to achieve is possible, that they can do better for themselves. Belief in a better tomorrow makes people dissatisfied with their situation today, and makes them hunger for advancement. Self-determination is never easy. Those whose belief is weak lack discipline, and will quit in the face of failure. Those whose belief is strong will continue in the face of hardship, will continue until they achieve their objective and increase their level of self- determination.
People's belief within culture is tied to the fluidity of the culture. If the culture is calcified, with a set class structure into which people are born, then people are not able to rise on their own merit. Those people not at the top aren't able to improve their situation, and so they won't believe in the possibility that they may rise. In a situation like this the culture will not rise either, because its people don't have the needed belief and discipline that goes with it.
The cultures which have risen throughout history have possessed an amazing degree of fluidity. People from all parts believed that they could know a better future, that they could rise. Fluidity is the key; it creates belief and allows a culture to tap the potential of its whole population, and so rise to a higher level of self- determination.
This was the situation with the United States. This was a nation of immigrants, of people who came to this country because they believed they could find a better life, believed that they could grow. They were hungry and disciplined because they had belief, willing to do what was needed to make their dreams come true. And many of them did make their dreams come true. The United States is perhaps the most fluid country ever. People from all walks of life, from all over the world, were able to pursue their dreams and rise; there was no class structure or royalty trying to keep them in their places. This fluidity and belief allowed the U.S. to achieve its phenomenal rise, the incredibly high level of self-determination which truly is unmatched in history. Fluidity and belief are the key to our standing in the world.
But we cannot afford to take our current level of self-determination for granted. History shows that cultures follow a cycle; all of those which have risen, the Romans, the Moslems, the Greeks, eventually fell. Why? Because they lost the power to believe and to remain fluid.
A culture which has risen becomes complacent; the culture as a whole becomes satisfied. It doesn't worry about attempting to rise anymore because it is happy with its present level. When this happens the culture stops tapping the potential of its whole population. The class structure calcifies, with people locked into position. No longer is it possible for people to rise within the culture itself; people are unable to improve their situations. So the belief in a better tomorrow, in the potential for improvement, disappears. Most people don't see that they will be able to rise so they don't believe anymore; they have nothing for which to strive. Thus, they are not willing to do what it takes, not disciplined because they will not gain from it. They become disillusioned with the culture because it denies them the reward which those at the top have received.
Those at the top, those who have received greater benefits, also lose belief. They do not look to a better tomorrow, they are satisfied with today. Instead of looking to gain more, they worry only about keeping what they already have. When this stage is reached, the culture has lost its vibrancy and discipline. It is already past its peak, and has started to decline.
But the other cultures which have not yet risen to a high level of self-determination see that it is possible; their people believe in a better tomorrow. These cultures are dissatisfied with the present. If there is one thing that is inevitable in history, it is that the satisfied will always fall to the dissatisfied, and so the complacent cultures fall to those which are still hungry.
According to the cycle of history, America should be in a decline; it seems we have reached the point where we are a satisfied, complacent culture. According to history, we should begin to fall, to be eventually replaced by a culture which is still hungry and disciplined. According to history, the satisfied should once again fall to the dissatisfied.
But this need not happen; the cycle of history can be broken. However the only chance to do so is to banish the values of societalism and once again embrace a belief in individualism. It is imperative to remove the blight of societalism from our government. A government which has as its primary goal the taking care of people does so by keeping everyone in his or her place. Not only is it undemocratic to deny people the opportunity to improve their lives, but this is also how cultures fall. By keeping people in their places so they can't rise fluidity is lost. By trying to take care of everyone, our government is calcifying our class structure on purpose, and is stripping our country of its belief. Without the belief in a better tomorrow, America will eventually fall to another culture which does believe.
Government taking care of people denies them personal control. Control is a habit. If control of the basic necessities of life is not with the individual, then people will not develop the habit of control which would allow them to rise; people won't be able to control any part of their lives. This makes people dissatisfied, makes them feel like they are being stripped of their fundamental right to decide the course of their lives. Government can tell people that this is the trade-off for being taken care of but the dissatisfaction will still exist and people won't see a way to correct it because they will not be able to rise. People will not see the possibility of a better tomorrow, will not believe in a dream because they don't believe they can make it come true. Dissatisfaction should be healthy for a culture. But the government, by denying people the ability to control their lives, makes people unhappy. Dissatisfaction becomes the frustration which can destroy a culture.
This is why it is so important to embrace individualism again. If societalism is allowed to fester, like Rome the United States will decline and fall. If the government tries to take care of the people, it will eventually lose the ability to do so. This country's culture will fall and its level of self-determination will recede.
In a society which believes in individualism, however, the primary goal of government is to extend the freedom of the individual. If the government lets each person decide the course of his or her own life, then those who are dissatisfied will be able to rise and so believe in that possibility, in a better tomorrow. The dissatisfied will believe, and with the discipline and hunger this creates will put upward pressure on society. Those who succeed in this country will still become satisfied and grow complacent, and could fall if they lose their discipline. They might get lazy and decide they don't want to work hard anymore. But the culture as a whole will not fall, for it will be the dissatisfied within the culture who will take their place. Freedom and individualism can create a permanent fluidity which will constantly rejuvenate this culture, constantly keep America strong, and this is the only way we can break the cycle of history which has claimed the great cultures of the past. The United States must again embrace individualism, and allow each person the opportunity to control his or her own life.