Individualism and Materialism
- Andy P
As a society, we have neglected a fundamental aspect of humanity. We have bought into the cult of the individual. We have subconsciously reduced our friends and neighbours to means and set our eyes on the end of self-sufficiency.
This short article is a call to think again. It is a call to shake society (often including the church) out of its thoughtless march toward individualism and turn instead to relationships and community as its source of fulfilment.
Individualism
In the West, the power of individualism is demonstrated by the culture of choice. Many of us have the ‘luxury’ of choosing what career we pursue, where we live, and how we spend our time and money. These choices are portrayed as freedoms, yet underlying them is an assumed individualism. The mobility that is commonly associated with today’s society is based on a rejection of the importance of community and relationships in making life choices. Defining one’s future is seen as superior to the out-dated constraints of committed human relationships and location.
If the goal is a good job, in a nice place with the resources to provide for our needs and wants, it follows naturally that we will be mobile and adaptable in our pursuit of this goal.
The power of individualism also goes beyond these ‘big questions’ and affects society’s increasingly fragile institutions such as marriage, family and local community. The natural progression from the belief that individuals shape their own future is that individuals are driven by the need to shore up and safeguard the type of life to which they aspire . Hence we retreat with our nuclear family to the suburbs behind thick hedges and garden walls and obsess about financial security and lowering standards.
Something profound is missing from the way in which we make life choices.
Social beings
People are social beings. It is in our social interactions that we find fulfilment and happiness. How then have we allowed ourselves to become indoctrinated by individualism to such an extent that our life choices do not value community and relationships?
If we allow ourselves to rethink the importance of community and relationships we open up exciting avenues that the dominant mood of individualism has kept obscured. Here are a few thoughts:
- Employment –People’s jobs are often isolated from the rest of their life. We need to explore ways to reconnect job decisions with relational networks and local communities.
- Home – Housing costs make up an increasingly large proportion of most people’s total income. Many new developments focus on small housing units that reinforce society’s bias towards isolation and individualism. We need to explore fun, practical and intergenerational alternatives.
- Community engagement – High-level social and economic changes have left many local communities disengaged and lacking identity. However, physical proximity remains a powerful force in society and we should explore ways of reclaiming public space that facilitate new forms of local community.
- Sustainability – As emerging economies strive towards the unsustainable levels of consumption in the developed world, our planet groans. If we make life choices that prioritise relationships over self-sufficiency we facilitate radical ideas like sharing things that allow us to relieve the strain on the earth’s limited resources.
- The myth of self-sufficiency – As the current economic crisis has made clear, we cannot entirely protect ourselves from the issues in society. Depending on other people creates strong friendships and supportive community is a safety net when things go wrong.
The greatest commandment
Jesus summarised the whole of the Old Testament law by saying ‘Love God, and love your neighbour as you love yourself’. At the heart of Christianity is the idea that in our relationship with God and our relationships with other human beings we find fulfilment. Our society is infected with individualism. It needs visionary people to break out of the individualistic norm, invite other people to participate in their life and demonstrate that focussing on relationships and community is a more fun, sustainable and fulfilling way to live.