Considering the Collective

A topic that my blog has discussed on occasion is the understanding that our society values individualism to the point that collectivism is considered an unusual alternative, or something unconventional.  Part of individualism is the idea that a person’s life and choices should improve their own interests.  An individual is considered to be a sovereign party and is the ultimate entity of moral concern.  This particular value system is the foundation of our American, Western culture.  The importance of individualism was evident in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Our fetish for individualism continues to be demonstrated again and again in national politics.  We consistently reward the individuals who have increased their wealth and improved their standing.  Our society rewards the individual so frequently that when policies that concern the collective or the general constituency’s progress it’s surprising.  The new national health insurance program in the United States could be understood an example of collectivism.  Collectivism is the idea that an individual’s choices are not supreme.  The society is the unit of moral concern, which generates limitations for fulfilling one’s personal interests.  I am currently doing research on southwest Kansas counties that hyper-extract from the Ogallala Aquifer.  There are several historic, demographic and economic reasons that small and large scale farmers choose to hyper-extract from this natural resource.  The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest underground water resources in the world that sustains major civic and industrial institutions.  This is a critical common pool resource.  Is this an example of benefiting our community or ourselves?  Yet, it would be an economic hardship for some of these populations to change their water use habits.

This blog has discussed the various uses of habits in our lives.  We have discussed how to develop and execute a productive habit.  Utilizing the habits we create can help us with the process of self-transformation.  Whether you are trying to change much or little about your life, we can all benefit from considering our habitual thoughts.  This idea of habitual thinking refers to what we repeatedly think about and also what we consistently do not think about.  We typically don’t think about things that make us too uncomfortable.  This can be problematic if it limits the opportunities that we have for individual transformation and subsequently a collective or societal transformation.  Recently I read “Love Your Monsters” by Latour and he explained that modern societies practice a precautionary principle.  Latour (and previous scholars) argue that there is a fair amount of risk in modern societies and we mitigate the consequences.  There are two ways of carrying out the precautionary principle: 1. To be responsible only if consequences are certain 2. To be responsible for any and all consequences.  I think this is an important principle to consider when we wrestle with idea of participating in a more collectively minded culture.  Who and what are we responsible for?  I think that many of us understand that many elements of our culture will have to change to live in an environmentally sustainable world.  Yet, we habitually choose not to think about these changes we need to make.  We apply the precautionary principle and attempt to mitigate our “emotional risks” seeking healthier, happier survival.  Or perhaps we find ourselves simply overwhelmed by the overabundance of social justice issues we cannot change and emotionally shut off.  No matter the reason behind our habitual not thinking, we have to do something.  So here’s my suggestion:  Let’s start by trying to habitually think about participating in a collective society.  It doesn’t matter how you think about “the collective,” just think about it.  Imagine the possibilities if you could design a society’s cultural values.  Allow yourself to wonder what it would be like to live in this collective culture and how you would feel about it.

Perhaps living in a collective means changing many of our cultural habits.  Our society has the habit of stereotyping nature to be considered something monolithic like the Rocky Mountains.  Nature is the pristine landscapes and the community roof top garden.  Latour encourages us to consider ourselves as a collective that are responsible for all consequences we have come to face.  We can’t be responsible for only our individual problems anymore, serious changes like climate change force us to think outside the box.  Or rather think beyond our individualized, ‘inside’ boxes… and think bigger and more… collectively, together.