Independence, Self-Reliance, & Individuality

One of the hallmarks of our society is the mentality of independence, self-reliance, and individuality. The focus is on standing out and being yourself. "Be faithful to yourself" It's what we are taught in school. It's what we see in life. It's a major focus in our society. Make what is around you fit your personality and style. Is there necessarily anything wrong with these concepts? Yes and No. For instance, our society embraces the ideas, concepts, and values of independence, self-reliance, and individuality. What's wrong with these concepts? The problem is that they come at the cost of family, community, dependence, and cooperation. They instill in us the values of pride & self-centeredness, inability to rely on or trust others, and a focus on success at the cost of everything else. Is that really the kind of life and lifestyle that we want? Is that what we want bred into ourselves, our society, and our children? Unfortunately, too often that is where we are and what we are teaching and learning.

Everything that we learn and do is based off of not learning and doing something else. We continually have to make choices in our lives and every decision that we make affects our lives. Everything we do comes at a cost. The cost can be that of other choices. The cost can be that of having to live with the consequences of our own decisions. Or the cost can be that of having to learn to survive dealing with decisions that are out of our control. Something that we, as a society, are often none too pleased with.