Individualism is a Better Way of Living than Socialism

By Iskur Reza(30802300014) 

Why do people tend to think negatively of someone with no friends. It’s a common stereotype that happens in society, they said if someone doesn’t have a friend, it means that he has bad behavior or perhaps he have done something wrong to people so he doesn’t have a friend. In fact, not all of them are true, perhaps someone is prefers to be alone, he feels relaxed, calm, and more confident if he does something by his own.

That’s called individualism, where someone prioritizes the importance of the individual over the group, emphasizing self-reliance, personal independence, and individual goals. Instead living like a socialist, that shares everything, living as an individual is better for personal freedom and growth. 

Many people thought that helping others in need is a must, but this perception was kinda forced. If people always use this kind of perception, their mind will always think that there always be someone out there that will help me if i got some trouble. This kind of perception was dangerous, this world was not made out of a rainbow. Everybody doesn’t give a thing about you when you’re in trouble, someone wouldn’t take a bullet for you. So, in order to survive in this cruel world, we have to rely on ourselves, don’t rely to much on other people.

Let me tell you why Individualism is a better way of living than socialism. Individualism can  improve your live by encouraging personal freedom which lead to innovation and economic growth (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Hui & Vilareal, 1989; Hofstede, 1980). When people are free to make their own choice and persuade their goals, they became more motivated and creative. Let’s compare it with the way of socialism, when a socialist wanted to make a decision, he will find himself in a cage, because there’s no such a thing as freedom in socialism, you will have to consider another person argument and adjust it with your idea. Now you see the difference between them. One of the example of how individualism is a better way of living is the city. A city with more individualistic culture tend to have a higher level of entrepreneurship and innovation. Research shows that a society that valuing individualism, experience faster economic development because an individualist work harder to achieve success on their own rather than relying on a team work. These data is very reliable on a strong economic country like US and many other western country. But If you are in the same position as me, living in Indonesia. It's hard to apply Individualism as your way of live because in Indonesia, you'll found a very social base neighborhood. 

Individualism also made you to be a better psychological human being. Studies reveal that people who feel autonomous and independent tend to report higher life satisfaction and better mental health. That’s because and individualist doesn’t care about what other people think about themselves, allowing an individualist build their own identity without any pressure to conform on a certain kind of group. In socialism, a socialist tend to suppress their thought leading to dissatisfaction and lack of motivation these data can be seen on National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The bottom line is Individualism is not something bad, it has a lot of benefits for us, like increasing encouraging personal freedom, made people independent and also prevent someone to get an addiction of a reliable feeling to someone.

 

Sources :

1.    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3942875/

2. https://www.socialconnectionguidelines.org/en/evidence-briefs/how-does-individualism-shape-social-health