Read the posting that is connected to the link below. After reading, decide whether or not you agree with the author. In short, what do you think the individual's role in the community should look like?
http://koios.vox.com/library/post/the-individual-vs-the-community.html
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This is an extremely hard subject for me to talk about because I have many split ideas, agreeing and disagreeing with the author. I agree with the authors statement about how there must be balance in the individual and the community. A community is composed of individuals, and if we have more developed individuals then the community would reflect as so. I also agree when he says "In the community, someone is always being left out" (Koios 1), in our style of government the majority will always rule, but i disagree with his reasoning. Communities work for the betterment of everyone (or everyone who voices out), so while you can say that the majority excludes the voice of the minority, you can't say that the majority will always be wrong (while sometimes that does happen Ex. President Bush).
ReplyDeleteWith that said i would like to reference Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson placed a big emphasis on the individual and what was the individuals responsibility in order to run a democratic government. I think the same rules can apply here. Andrew Jackson believe that if the power was going to be given to the people then it was the peoples JOB to be educated and to be responsible with such power. I agree with our past President and say that we must first develop the individual in order to develop a GOOD community, but there must also be a balance. The community can't wait too long for the individuals to develop. Where this balance should lie, I do not know.
Jorge Rivera (250)
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ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the author that individualism is what makes the community work better. The reason for my belief is that I’ve always done what I feel like I had to do without thinking in the people around me, and I’ve come a long way. For example, my family and friends, they didn’t want me to learn how to play classic guitar, because they thought it was something boring and it’s not a professional career were you can get a lot of money. But I never listen to them; I had to leave my friends in order to move on. It was hard because they didn’t accept boring people, but in the end it was all worth it because I follow my dream, and I realize the people that really loved me were there the whole time. Being independent means leaving others apart in order to move on. Individualism works almost the same way.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite singers, Avril Lavigne, didn’t like to listen to what people said when she was doing what she loved, which is singing. In life we’re always being classified in groups of people. And if you don’t follow most of those concepts you are in the hot spot of the community as a bad member of it. So, I do belief you have to be selfish when you want to reach your goals but at the same time you don’t have to forget where you came from and try to help people that help you in your way to success.
(257)
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading and thinking about what the author is talking about , i came to realize i quite don't know where i stand when it comes to this subject , because Ive never really thought about it .When one thinks about themselves , they are considered to be selfish. i don't quite agree with this. An individual should have a sense of balance. He or she needs to understand when it is the correct time to think about themselves yet think about others. But i think that's extremely hard. Sometimes people can get carried away and do more of one than the other. Either they think about themselves too much or they stop thinking about themselves and start thinking of others such as they're community. The role of an individual is to properly find the skills needed to obtain that balance which would help both the individuals growth and the community growth as well . Because there are situations in which you have to think about yourself more than others.For example, when i wanted to go to Bahia. My parents and family friends thought it could be dangerous but i knew what a great opportunity this was for me therefore i went for it no matter what . On the other hand you need to think about others needs before yours.There was a time when my mother needed help taking care of my home because she would have to work, i had to give up my social life for my family.Everyone needs this balance in order to live in a functional community.
ReplyDeleteBrenda Vazquez (262)
As I was reading this document I would have to say that I would agree with the authors point about their being certain balance between the individual and the community. There has to be a time where you can’t just think about yourself and instead give back to the community. One person could make a difference in the community and keeps it progressing into a more sufficient society. People usually don’t realize what type they are because they are too busy with their lives and don’t help out the community. While I was reading this I realized how selfish I was being to the community. I never realized how I was an individual and didn’t have that balance that the author was talking about. My mom has that balance between herself and the community. She helps out the church with the cooking, cleaning and even donating to other people. Even though my mom may have other plans she tells me that it’s not always about yourself that you have to think about the other people you can give back to. I was proud of my mom because I never thought of her that way and helping the community out was something she didn’t mind doing it. Overall I would agree with the author because you just can’t be selfish and think about yourself. You need to have a open mind and help in the community to make it a better place.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the article, i look upon the author and said to myself i completely agree, but along the lines part of me disagreed with the subject, so it put me in between, for examlpe agreed with him when he said things like "i tend to think about alot", "what do i want out of life" meaning he maybe has certain goals in life he wants to attain and being a "selfish" is one of the ways to avoid distractions,for example , im trying to go as far as i can go with the game of basketball in my life, and any little distractions cam mess with my goal because it can throw you off, that's why i try my best to avoid girls, because they are a huge distraction to my goal, and i know when i get to college theirs going to be girls all over, so i could wait and i need to be more selfish and worry about myself in high school to get to the top.
ReplyDeleteIn a community nan individual role should be, building up your own character and being accepted in the community because of the positive morals he/she should bring to the table, for example a public figure is someone who's considered to have a role in the community and they are looked upon because of their fame and they have to set an example.
According to how the author speaks, this online opinion based essay seems blunt. Even so, it takes a lot of courage to speak one’s mind, especially if it can easily provoke different points of view. But in a way, I do agree with what the author is trying to say. He says “in the community, someone is always being left out,” which relates to me. I do not see people in my community interested or obsessed in the theory of music and art. In other words, I am an outsider. However, one of my intentions of being an artist is to “challenge, criticize, and change the community” because I just loathe “following the herd.” Just because I am an artist does not mean I fly around in ecstasy; I also adore the art of speaking my mind. Bashing on my own community may be harsh, but it is for the better. In certain presentations, I strive to promote Homosexuality in order to ease discrimination. However, I become disappointed when I see my own comrades nodding their heads while replying with an “Ok”, or even worse, “Sure”. They do follow my doctrines, but as robots, they expect a treat or else they revert as their original ignorant selves.
ReplyDeleteThe author also states that “maybe a certain level of individualism is needed to keep the community in check, to keep it progressing” which I agree with. I have a tendency of speaking bluntly of my own ideologies, which has a high chance of provoking my comrades. I guess provoking your own community wakes them up from their slumber, making them want to support their own beliefs, thus stop “following the herd”. ------[Kyara Gandara]
I dont really know if I agree or not with the authos, but i certainly think that he has good points. People think that we should put the community first and sacrafice ourselfs, but i think that if we dont have our lifes together then we wont be able to help others.There are times where we need to be selfish to ge what e want, and then we should go and help others to get what they want.
ReplyDeleteEverybody should start on changing or making themselves better in order to help others. Everones needs to have a balance in their lifes and actually know what they are doing. I agree that you need to think of others before yourself but not every time, because sometimes you are one who needs help and no matter how much you want to help another person you wont be able because you are confortable with yourself. Either way everybody should look for themselfs and others, have a balance and not get to selfish.
The author makes many great points in his blog. It is the individual's decision as to whether they want to contribute to their community. Though it may sound a bit self-centered, as the author has stated, the type of person doing good deeds for their community should be considered. I would rather have a person who thinks of them self and their community while helping, rather than have someone who does the service just to look good on paper. If that is the case, the person who does not care very much should get their life together. They could think about what they want for them self before doing work that will not benefit them. Sure, this may sound a tad bit mean, but it becomes obvious when a person actually wants to help their community. Instead of stopping at the required amount of hours, that person will continue to work for community without any rewards. Initially, the reward should be the feeling of accomplishment. Anyway, I also like how the author suggests, "One of the three major principles of existentialism is responsibility." The individual should be aware of what their role in their community is. Actually, they may not even have to do service in their community if they feel as if it does not suit them. By going farther than most people in our community, we have done our community good. We now have proof that we went beyond what was expected of us. It shows that the individual has considered their future and their existence--what their reason to live happens to be. With that being said, everyone is responsible for their actions, so we should make a effort to think before we act. There is a reason as to why we do the things we do.
ReplyDelete- Bach Diep
Well, when I first read the article, I thought,"Man this guy is a (bleep)..." I reread the article a couple of more times and I came to the conclusion that this guy is actually right! It is the individual's decision to influence their community. A community is composed of individuals, and if we have more developed individuals then the community would reflect as so. I also agree with the author saying that we need to be part of a community, but we can not ask the individual to change their personality because it would be neither beneficial to the community or the individual. If we all jump to the idea that everybody is supposed to be the same then we sacrifice individuals. In life there needs to be chaos in order for there to be order. The same can be said for a community. The needs to be diversity BEFORE there is unity. Its just the way the world turns out... "Maybe instead of constantly asking the individual to sacrifice his or herself for the community, the individual should challenge, criticize, and change the community." A certain amount of individualism is needed to keep the community in balance...
ReplyDelete--Ben Ramirez
p.s. I didn't mean to saay that you were an idiot:)
Based on what I have just read, I must say I am quite biased because being a part of the community, I am more of an individual. I just feel that the author has pinpointed many good points that we cease to realize. The fact that people tend to make the situation seem as if it’s what we expect it to be when it’s the opposite. “Many of us preach about the completion of the American dream, or talk about how we are the long superpower of the world, or how we should be the model for the rest of the world because we are the best” (paragraph 6), what is the American dream if one cannot express his individualism. Being a part of the community, one should have the choice to whether be active or inactive but I also agree at least to an extent. The community is responsible for it’s members, leaving someone out may conclude in them becoming an individual and who is to blame but themselves.
ReplyDeleteI believe that an individual has impacted the community in many ways, they are the one who questions society. People in a community is similar to a clique at school. A group of people whom you hang out with and some may do certain things just to follow the crowd. It’s not a crime to do the opposite, people tends to fear being judge and that’s why their individualism is extremely low. I don’t think it’s being selfish because if the community has something to say towards an individual concerning selfishness. They should think about how they’re contradicting themselves because they are also being a selfish. Some people are just hypocrites, once again this is from a biased perspective.
The discussion in class let my horizons concerning this issue to grow wider. After reading the blog I come to a better understanding of an individual's role among the community. It seems like my instincts of being an individual are constantly fighting with the influence of the outside people and the community have in my life, therefore similarly to the author I agree with defending the idea of personal responsibility yet I also comprehend the effects of the community in an individual's life. The person is attainable for his/her actions and the type of image portrayed in public, a person must not remain isolated from the rest of the community, the role of an individual therefore must be concerned about self responsibility and still contribute independently towards a common idea in the community. Just as the author of the post explains "existential than any other type of individualism--that is, I, me, myself, am in charge of my existence." (Kios)1 An individual holds the task to be aware of personal actions, but without ignoring that the rest of the society is a part of his/her destiny.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author in the part that "in the community someone is always left out"(koios 1), becaused based on my experience when I work in a group or in the community sometimes I feel that they do not payed attenttion to me.Which make me no feel part of the community ,I think as the author said a coommunity is made of Indivuduals, that I think should no be ignored .And people that worked togher to accomplished something that seems imposible.I think the role of the individual in the community is to suport the community and make a change on it .Every indivual is responsible to put their part.And everyone should do the same work equally.I love working in the community and geting to know diferent people with diferent cultures.Because I think I learn so much from everyone.That experience will be helpful in the fure of my life.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this article, I realized that what Koios said in his bog, in my opinion, is absolutely true. The views of an individual can greatly affect the entire community in a positive or possibly negative way. For example, in our present-day democratic society the majority vote (for president) of a group of people can cause a consequence for those who feel that a certain individual person should or should not be president. I believe that today there should be a larger focus on the individual person, that way there would be less negative side effects imposed on those for being in a certain community.I think that today the role of an individual should be considered more than that of the group the person belongs to. I feel this way because if a person is punished because of some thing the whole group (excluding that person) then the fairness that our government was based off of has been totally destroyed.
ReplyDeleteAfter having read this article, I caught myself to be in a bias position. A part of me believes that an individual’s actions do have an impact on how the community is, but yet again I feel that it has a major affect on the way the community will become. Therefore, I agree with the author of this article, Koios. In my opinion, a specified individual’s action does not automatically damage the community, but when one makes the decision to do something that later on is considered to be a negative choice in the future it will result to not affect their community at the moment, BUT when one, as well as others, makes the choice to not fix their mistake(s) by not repeating it, at a certain point it all gains up and becomes an issue that has dramatically made a change in their lives and community. One’s decisions may not be exceptionally huge enough to change the community from one day to another, but their actions can be followed by making others believe it would have no impact, yet it will in the near future. For example, recently at the University of California – San Diego a few students whom belonged to a fraternity were involved in the “Compton Cookout,” (an offensive, false celebration), which resulted in the whole fraternity being punished for an individuals idea. However, I think that from this day forward we should all begin to take into consideration how much of an affect a single individual’s actions impacts on their community, both negative and/or positive, as Nakia has stated.
ReplyDelete- viridiana cadena
After reading the article, I agree with the author perspective on the comparison of individuals and the community. The author emphasizes how individualism affects the person because he/she would only love himself and not care about what is going on around them. Even today, there are many who becomes individualism and doesn't support their community in any sort of way because they don’t "care". As generation passes by, the people will begin to be separate from the community. Being part of the community shows the person values and personality of supporting their area.
ReplyDeleteThe individual’s role in the community should look like a person or a group of friends doing an activity that expresses their love towards the community. In addition, by doing community service activities build up characteristics because it makes the individuals confidence and good about themselves. For example, during my junior year I done many activities that are involve within the community. The activities that I have done are supporting the Cesar Chavez Club, setting up the Chinese New Year for A.P.A.C, participating in Charger Game for ROTC, etc. By doing these events, I feel more graceful about myself and I believe this is how others should be as well.
It can certainly be said that Koios defended his standing position fairly well. He made various arguments bringing to light the main components of two different ways of viewing the role of an individual in the community; should he be selfish, or sacrificial? The answer may seem quite simple. Because selfishness gives off a negative vibe, most would assume being sacrificial to the community would serve a more Samaritan role. However, at times, it can be the very egoism of an individual that moves the community forward. A leader with no confidence or egocentricity is no leader at all. A backbone is certainly needed to become someone in life, even if outside spectators disapprove. Yet, on the converse side of selfishness stands sacrifice. Now sacrifice is a form of contribution, or better yet a necessary form of contribution; and this is also seen in the community at various points. Whether or not it serves beneficial to the community really depends on how far the individual is willing to go. I like the way that Koios estranged the concept of sacrifice by saying that “instead of constantly asking the individual to sacrifice his or her self for the community, the individual should challenge, criticize, and change the community.” But though he sees these two ideas as separate, I see them as the same because in order to challenge, criticize, and change the community, the individual needs to sacrifice their time to make any effect at all or else he just becomes selfish.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question of whether or not I agree with Koios, I am
-Jocelyn Munoz
After reading this article I said to my self I strongly agree with this author. I am on both sides of the issue. when you think of your self you tend to be "selfish" but on the other hand everyone cant help their community. People get distracted away from things everyday. For example for me its volleyball and school, and now that I am a junior I have to focus more and not let things throw me off my game. I agree with my fellow student dame when he stated in his blog entry that being selfish can be a good thing because you are striving for what you want in life and not letting anybody distract or lead you in the wrong directions.
ReplyDeleteA community is where different diversity of people live. Many people strive to change their environment but one person cant do it alone it takes people that are patient, willing too make a difference, and are up for the challenge. An individual's action does affect the community because people make the community how it is, the community doesn’t make the people. Sometimes certain individuals have no choice but to life in a community that they don’t feel comfortable in, but they get through it everyday. If you don’t like hoe things are being done in your community, put an effort into changing things and go out or your way to make sure that others are in a safe and respectful environment.
-Brandi Rhone
base on the reading i just read, i agree with the author's point. it is significant that we do not put ourselves first or put the community first. there should be an even amount of equality going around. Also, he states that there should be individualism in each community. without, the diversity then there would be no balance.
ReplyDeletei think an individual's role in the communtity should be be willing to be different. someone that will assist in changing the community.
After reading the text, I came to the agreement with Koios’ ideal of individualism. His concept of that responsibility and the infliction to our own behaviors and actions is totally true. If someone who is so very dependent on others is given an assignment to work on, he/she would do nothing but hope that the ones he/she relies on is there to help. I personally believe that if someone develops the ideal of individualism it would help not only themselves, the support the community. I noticed that Koios talked about the termed call the “head” mentality and I completely agree to that. I believe that if there is not a strong sense of responsibility there wouldn’t be any type of leadership, thus having no organized community involvement. Often, many members of their own community choose not participate in community events or organized their own because they become relent on others to step up to the plate and try something different. Sadly, I personally believe that we don’t have much of leaders and more of the followers in many communities. For example, I personally believe the need of community service for high school is to motivate students to help the community in which they live in and in return feel like they need to be more active and involved. The whole idea that Koios has in this text is in fact, very strong and he does has great points to back it up. I believe you can’t help the community if you can’t find the individual in yourself. Everything starts within you and only from there you can help the community out in whatever ways you wish to.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the posting I began to understand the author and completely agreed with him, but then towards the middle of the posting I began to disagree a little with his arguments, but then at the end I can honestly say that I completely agree with him. I do feel that one must be selfish at times to help ones self and then in turn being able to give back to the community. For example if a student comes from a poor family and he has the choice of going to a great university and possibly getting a really good job and being able to take care of your family in the long run or he could stay at home and just go to school part time and then work most of the time to provide for his family, which one would be the better option. If the community was really the most important thing then he would have to be selfish and go on to the four year university, find some way to provide money to his family and when he finally graduates and gets a good paying job then he would never have to worry about money and his family would be better off in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThe individuals role in the community should be balanced between his/her personal life and actually giving back to society. For us to give back and help out someone else or something bigger like a community we must first be able to help ourselves and understand what it is that we want to do in life and take on those challenges and selfish.
After reading koios blog about individualism vs the community I have to say that I agree with his perspective. I find that individualism does affect the person’s character towards his or her life. And it is true that many people do end up separating from their communities because they end up loving themselves too much instead of thinking of others, including the area where they live. With this in mind, I do believe that we as an individual have to sometimes think about ourselves first but to some extent. A reason for, would be that if we don’t have a certain amount of happiness in our life how are we supposed to return it to the community? And I’m not saying to just think about our selves every time and not give back to the community, but hey we need a little sunshine every once in a while. To conclude, my perspective is that individualism is a big chunk in a person because it defines the person’s character, but it should not overwhelm them to the point where they contribute nothing to everything around them.
ReplyDelete--Leo Aviles [185]
In my personal opinion, an individual should have a limited humanistic behavior in order to balance out selfish with greed. I believe that a person should excel and worry about themselves, its not selfish really, and still bring back what they learned to their community. If so, their community will excel beyond their current social status and transcend and be beyond their dreams expectations. I believe this author composed both a serious but humorous piece talking about selfish individualistic actions. Indeed, he does have a point, selfish is not greed. If a person limits his humanistic aspect of life, he can still limit his self intention and manage to help out the community as well. If this is done, a Utopian society will emerge upon the rubble that our unactive community created. Its possible, its probable, but will anyone do it?
ReplyDeletewhen reading the article the author made really great points about his thoughts on the whole indivuals vs. community. i agree with what he states on his blog many indivuals do have to think about themselves first and figure out what they are going to do in life. you cant help your community because you have to help yourself. i dont think that is selfish because you can not help others if you cant help yourselfs and figure out what you truely want to do in life.
ReplyDeletethe community is made up of many different individuals who are very diverse in cultures and opinois but its what keep a community held together becasue with all the different ideas someone brings it can help make the community a better one thats what a indivuals role in a community should be brining new ideas to their community.
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ReplyDeleteAs i read this blog, i thought the author was extremely courageous. If you ever want to have an example of freedom of speech, you can definitely read this blog to get an idea. I can't decide if i agree or disagree because I'm really good at looking at both sides of a situation. I understand what the author means by "In the community, someone is always being left out", but there's always two sides to the situation. For example, the individual can be going for a negative act while others are going for a positive, liberal act on the community, majority always rules for better convenience. Or unless her voice wasn't being heard as much as he put effort, his only voice was no match for the rest of the community. Although as much as i hate disagreeing, i think i have to say that i mostly disagree with this blog because she did not use enough evidence or any type of personal experience to prove her statement and in situations like this, evidence is everything and you can't categorize this idea based on one persons perspective, opinion, or idea. Based on the authors perspective, i think he doesn't know what he really wants for the community, he's just based on doing what HE wants to do. By stating "I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life" he let us know that he still has insecurities and doesn't know what he wants. According to the author, he is letting us know that it is all about ourselves, encourages us to be selfish and but ourselves before others. As i started to continued to read the blog i thought to myself i thought we are the UNITED States of America and then i remembered people like this author keeps us from being who we are really determined to be.
ReplyDeleteso here's the thing that's sorta weird to me, fact that i can kinda agree with this man. Why you might ask well ill tell you.sometimes its OK to be "selfish" and only thinking about you and how your gonna benefit because if you spend your time trying to please those around you somewhere along the way your gonna loose yourself. Then whats gonna happen your gonna realize that you put everything else before you and you end up loosing. Now that doesn't mean do everything only because your gonna win. You have to learn to keep that balance of helping yourself and then helping others. We have to remember that that helping others doesn't mean you have to go out into the world and try to change it 360 degrees you know, its always the smallest deeds that count and sometimes the ones that matter the most.
ReplyDeleteThis man on the other hand i don't think he understands the balance in between the two. he knows that he can be an individual but he doesn't know up to what extent, so most people will misconstrue that as him being a jerk and perhaps wont take him seriously. therefor making him an outcast. and trust me there many of those in society, not to be a jerk or anything but its the truth. winch therefor its also the communities responsibility to accept that individualism is part of the foundation of community, well at least thatch how i see it. We must be stable at the base so the community can rest on it and we wont have an unsteady structure.
Well, when I first read this article, I was surprise of the writers tone. He sounded sarcastic and very self-centered. But, when I was reading along I agreed with the writer every second. In order to make a community you need to contain the individuals who bring their own attributes. “People ways” can help the community greatly. The cultures, environment, habits and etcetera, can make a community grow in a positive or even possibly a negatively way. But, the sense of having a community working together can even be a positive way. Individualistic person can bring many points of views and bring many efficient ideas. In my community I consider myself as an individual person who wants to bring change and different ideas. I consider myself and individual person because I have tried many things such as joining a program for a month located in a complete country where I have never experience and sharing my point of views among different successful individuals.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, individualistic people are what make a community an community. Individual people make a community unique and different. The outcome of having other people points of views can make an community become acute because with all of the depute with different arguments, it can be a efficient community than others.
---Yaffet Mehari----
I am on the fence with agreeing with what the author has to say about the individual vs. the community. From both perspectives, I do believe that all of his arguments are valid. For example, the portion of the blog where he states, "I find that the concept of a community is too utopian and, to some extent, dangerous" (4). In my opinion this statement refers to the sense of individuality that lacks within many communities, whether it is referring to a city community or a high school community. Another valid point that the author states is, "Maybe a certain level of individualism is needed to keep the community in check, to keep it progressing" (7). In every community the perspective of the many individuals determine what the outcome of the community comes too. What I believe is that deciphering whether the author is right or wrong can only be done by a person who is incapable of considering both sides of the issue. Just as the author does in his blog, there are always too sides to an argument.
ReplyDeleteWe must first think of ourselves first to an extent so that we may help our community. We should not only think of ourselves and forget about our community we need to help our community because we live in that community. We need to focus on ourselves more than the community. I say this because, how can we help the community if we cannot help ourself? There is no way that this can happen, we are supposed to help others before we help ourself just does not make sense to me at all. We must think of ourselves way more than the community but definitely to a certain extent so that our community may become a more effective part of our lives.
ReplyDeleteIn the article there is a line that says, "In the community, someone is always left out." This is true because that person thought of themselves more than they thought of their community.
After reading this article, I really couldn’t pick a side. I am basically undecided of whether people should become more independent or more involved with their community. If it was necessary for me to pick a side, I guess I would go with becoming more independent. As the author of this article says, “I, me, myself, am in charge of my existence” (paragraph 3), is basically the way that I was taught to think of myself. Though it might seem somewhat selfish, it helped me to not rely on others all the time. This way of thinking made me become a more independent person such as the author himself.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I also believe that everyone needs to rely on at least one other person to live. I mean, if we don’t rely on others then I guess we would all be lost with no guidance at all. But then again, we can’t completely depend on others to develop us into better people.
What I guess makes us the human beings we are today is both. Being independent but also looking up to a couple of people for a better guidance and support.
As I began reading the article I started to ask the question about our community. What exactly makes a community? As far as I know our community is not a stable or united place. We do not live in a place where everyone works together as one or in a place where we can all talk to random people from our community. The author has a point, no time in my life have I felt as a part of a community. People are always left out and left to do everything on their own. No one can help you achieve your dreams but yourself. Koios makes that point when he states that a community always finds a way to exclude some people.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, people may be too preoccupied with their own little worlds to notice everything that goes around them. Maybe it was a justification of the turn our society is taking. Selfishness is not the way to make the community as a whole a better place. People have different ideas of what is perfect. Making your self better will not always influence others to be better sometimes they take it in a different light and do not want to try because of the fear of failure. A proactive solution would be focusing on making ourselves better by helping others.
I believe the "Golden Rule" is related to this issue of individualism vs the community. The Golden Rules states, "Treat others the way you wish to be treated." To be individualism there much be something to be individual from, therefore individualism comes from communitarian-ism.SO, being in a community promotes individualism, in fact it creates it. A community, in nature, is a group of species, working together to survive amongst an environment.And what is true is that no species can have the same niche which cause difference.A community, in Social terms, have different "groups"(Species) working in different areas(niches) in order for the community to survive. Which proves that differences is created by community, and so Individualism comes from the community itself.
ReplyDelete-Victor Chan
After discussing with a couple of my classmates and reading the blog post by Koios I have learned that being an individual is a very important part of being a community member. Many might disagree, but I believe that internal growth is key for there to be growth within a community. It is important for a person to worry about themselves, to a certain limit. When someone becomes too much of an individual, they forget about the things that truly matter. I believe that it is possible to be part of a community and also be able to be an individual.
ReplyDeleteAfter being an individual for the past couple of years I have to say that I have not left the things that truly matter behind. Worrying about myself has brought me a very long way. However, I am the person I am today because of the people I am surrounded by in my community. I will admit that I have been selfish in certain points of my life, but situations I have been in have led me to be selfish.
Being selfish doesn’t just mean being self-centered. I believe that it also means being able to get things straight with yourself. Koios said himself, “I’m at a time in my life when I’m trying to get my shit together. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.” I think that many of us can relate to this. There are times where there are too many things going on, we just need time to breath and hear ourselves think.
Being an individual and a community member are both very important. It is up to every person to decide under what category they fall under. I am an individual, to a certain extent. (:
For starters, in my opinion, being an individualistic person does not make you completely selfish because it does push you toward what your purpose for being placed into the world as who you are. As the author stated, “I tend to think about ‘me’ a lot: what do I want out of life? What do I want to do today,” (paragraph 1). With these thoughts you begin to choose what you want and what you expect to gain. Although it seems a person is thinking of him/herself only, I believe the process of these thoughts start to bring you toward the community. Because you start to wonder what and why, you start to see that there is an entire community and world surrounding you. The author brought up major aspects that he points out to be flaws such as: isolation, misconception, and monopolization. The one that stood out most was monopolization because he says, “everyone thinks alike and fails to question each other,” (paragraph 6) which would fail the community because it takes togetherness, not in the mind but at heart. We need people to disagree with each other to build up a “perfect” solution. Which leads me to my final statement, I agree with the author but only to a certain extent. The importance of an individual is to grow, thus causing a community to grow, but as my classmate Jorge R. pointed out, we cannot wait too long. Overall, I believe that we must focus on our individuality in order to build up a community, and still have balance between being selfish and being individualistic.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I somewhat agree with the author. When Koios states, "I am a very individualistic person," I agree with him. I tend to think of what is best for me and what I want to become in life. "I, me, myself, am in charge of my existence," and only I can make what becomes of me. I believe that you have to first think about yourself before you can contribute to the community. For instance, yes, you can help the community and think for others all the time. But if you only think of others and neglect yourself, then what do you have? Nothing, because you're not expanding yourself and getting to know yourself better. I believe that we should have a good knowledge of ourselves before we help others. Although the community needs individualism, we also need "juxtapositon." If we only think of ourselves and don't work side by side with others, then we're going nowhere. I agree with the author when he said, "Maybe a certain level of individualism is needed to keep the community in check, to keep it progressing," because if the community consists of all the same people, what kind of community is it?
ReplyDelete--Trang Phan
I agree with the author because “there should be a certain balance between the individual and the community” (1). We sometimes believe that we are independent from others, but without them we couldn’t survived. Furthermore is essential to live communicated with other people, especially in your community. In the other hand, I believe that reaching your goals are responsibility of you own. You shouldn’t depend on other people. Individualism is used in these types of cases. In my opinion I prefer to use individualism instead of community because I prefer to work independent instead of depend on other people.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I am not sure if I really agree or disagree with his concept of an individual’s contribution to a community. He jumps back and forth with many appeals to support and to counter attack his argument. But I wouldn’t really consider his idea to be considered “selfish”, when he is still helping the community and yet helping himself. This is where I am sort of thrown by his real argument. I think an individual’s role is determined on the person. I personally feel a person doesn’t need to give their all for the community, but a little contribution would be nice and unselfish. But I don’t really get how it can be an individual’s role when it takes the role of the community to help their surroundings.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the post, I can say that I agree with most of what the author was trying to convey. In today's society people tend to focus on the importance of the community and often overlook the maybe even greater importance of individualism. The author states that communities instill a "herd" mentality among its members, and I have often witnessed this phenomenon myself, especially among my own family. Those who do not understand certain unique individuals often isolate them without knowing, including myself. Among my own family I am considered "weird" and not "normal" for the simple reasons that I like to read and am not very feminine. Instead of understanding, many just ignore. Therefore,instead of focusing solely on the community, we should focus on increasing our individuality and challenging the norm.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very hard subject for me to decide on. In many aspects I agree with theauthor on his take of a community. I can see why he would consider a community a very judgemental process due to each community having a set of leaders. I Also see why a individualist can be greedy in a sense due to their concern of their own well being. This cycle of people looking our for themselves shows in both the community and the individual.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose between one or the other I guess would favor the individual to some extent. I see the importance of being well with yourself
because then you can help others but what I don't agree with is the idea of putting your own well being before others. This is the dangerous part of individualism. If people begin to believe they are better than anyone else than it will just cause more of a rift between community and the individual. BAsically I see the community intertwined with. the individual because if the individual is not well than they will not help their community so willingly.(Lucas Cruz)
This is a very hard subject for me to decide on. In many aspects I agree with theauthor on his take of a community. I can see why he would consider a community a very judgemental process due to each community having a set of leaders. I Also see why a individualist can be greedy in a sense due to their concern of their own well being. This cycle of people looking our for themselves shows in both the community and the individual.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose between one or the other I guess would favor the individual to some extent. I see the importance of being well with yourself
because then you can help others but what I don't agree with is the idea of putting your own well being before others. This is the dangerous part of individualism. If people begin to believe they are better than anyone else than it will just cause more of a rift between community and the individual. BAsically I see the community intertwined with. the individual because if the individual is not well than they will not help their community so willingly.(Lucas Cruz)
After reading this article, I don’t fully agree with the author, but neither do I completely disagree on his views of the individual and the community. First, I agree that we should not try to self-sacrifice for the well-being of the community, because the community is essentially ourselves and everyone inside the community. We make up our community and if we’re not happy with what we are doing and how things are, then doesn’t that in a way also hurt our community? So I agree that a person should think about what’s best for them first, rather than worry on how your community will view you. Although I don’t think that people should be selfish about it. It is one thing to do things for ourselves because that is really what we want to do and because it will help us in our future, but it is another thing to do things that might hurt others just for our own content. I feel that people in their communities should help support each other and be acceptant of others without racism and other mediocre attempts to lower a person; and especially respect should take a major role in communities.
ReplyDeleteMy views might be idealistic, but this is my opinion; I understand that there are many differences in the way people think, but even if people can’t always agree and there will always be conflicts, they can be solved; it just takes some effort.
--Melissa C.
After reading the article, I agree with the author because a certain amount of selfishness must be required in a n individuals road to success. If an individual wants to contribute to their community and have a positive impact, they first have to have an understanding of who they are before they can help others. It may seem extremely selfish, but how can you help most effectively help out the community if you don’t know your strengths and weaknesses. After getting to know your self, you will be able to further evaluate how you will impact the neighborhood in a positive way. You cannot be an individualistic person your entire life and expect to make a change in other peoples lives, but the process of community contribution includes the individualistic trait before you can decide how to change your community.
ReplyDelete(140) -Alfredo
After reading this blog, it confused me. I contemplated all the ideas that were portrayed, and I came to the conclusion that Koios's perspective about the situation makes sense. Ultimately, I agree with the author. For example, when I read, "Well, I feel like I'm at a time in my life where I'm trying to get my shit together," I could not help but think how I feel the same way. I know that the community is an important place, but it does not mean that I am going to let my own life suffer in order to help the community. There are infinite communities, and there is only one me. I only have one life to live, and if I want to live it in a certain way, then let it be. If people would put half the effort into what they are fighting for when they criticize people to get them to help, then they would not need the help. It is a simple topic. If the community was supposed to be that way, then it would be that way. To help clarify, “Change is good as long as you are the motivation for the change” (NCIS). It seems as I go through life, I am sometimes forced to do things that I do not want to do. However, I think that individualism gives me and others the opportunity to defy life’s slavery. Maytin Poonsuk (235).
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this online blog was saying one of the many things society is always cautioned to say. The accuracy in his opinions were not what pursuaded me to absolutley agree with him, but it was his accusations and observations. Koio stated
ReplyDelete"...everyone thinks alike and fails to question each other; instead, people just follow the "herd." I completely agree with this statement. Most individuals follow the "status quoe" of their communities otherwise known as their surroundings. I believe that it is expected for 90% of each community to follow the lead instead of setting the standard. One thing that I would like to stress is, there has to be a balance when it comes to who leads and who follows. Too many Alpha Males and Females in one section is a recipe for disaster.
I believe each individual should be somewhat invovled in their communties well being. Whether it is just a next door neighbors problems or an entire neighborhood watch team. Although that must never conflict with the well being of your own household or even just you as an individual. It's always good to be involved, but you also need to know that if you don't take care of yourself than how can you ever take care of your community.
To be honest, i sort of agreed and disagreed with this blog. I understand that it is important to be involved within your community and such, but it is also important to be an independent individual. Although everyone has their own opinions, in the end there is only one way to go (the right way) and the "right way" is to serve your community and others the best way you can. Helping others should not be enforced but it is the only way you can build good relations with others. So let us go back to the blog. The author obviously seemed like he was trying to make a decision between taking care of himself and taking care of his community. In the midst of his blog, I noticed how he kept on going back and forth from the idea of being selfish/self-centered and kind/giving. This stood out to me the most because these words described the outcome of what type of person you are. Basically everything is relied upon an individual... Everyone has a choice to do and be something in this world, but you should think about how you can help others while helping yourself.
ReplyDelete-Ruth Tesfai
As i read this article, i agree and disagree with the author because in a way its not bad to think about yourself and on the other hand its selfish ebcause you dont think about other peoplebut yourself. Its good to think about yourself but not all the time. I believe life is about everyone around it and yourslef because its what makes a group or something?? I think the author doesn't really only think about himself, because he might feel like he does. The way i look at it sometimes everyone thinks about themselves and doesn't tend to think about what the other person thinks or feels because of there own personal reason. Constantly thinking about yourself and not caring about others is in a way bad. Unless the other people don't care about you either.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of putting oneself above family and the community isnt something that i can fully agree with. But the concept that individualism helps shape and diversify a community is something that i find very true. Personally i dont fully think that i am an individualistic person, although there are times where i definitely can be. I think the author knows that he is an individualistic person, but he also has that kind of want to be more helpful to his family and others.I think that there should be a balance and that once you find that balance you can satisfy yourself and others with your actions. Because we are all part of something bigger than ourselves. It would be better to have a group of people working together going to war, than it would be to have a group of selfish ones wouldn't it? So I think that if everyone found their balance between themselves and their community the world would be a much more balanced place.
ReplyDeleteReading this article made me think "Whoa! i am not the only one that thinks this? Woo-hooooooooo!!!!!!" Personally, i agree with this author. I think his philosophical way of thinking while using basic logic and theory about our communities is Very much true after all. The way i see our community is:
ReplyDelete1)some People have groups
2)they have a similar way of thinking
3)their minds can be filled with stupid logic and blind perception
4)they exclude all of those who think differently from them
5)they categorize certain individuals as being wrong and separate.
6)they ignore the truth and continue with their ways as being ignorant and stuck in their own little world and refuse to listen to those who tell them otherwise...
7)it pisses me off to know that these type of people are in almost every community.
His concept on "following the herd" is very much true.where is the unique part of THAT community? If everyone is going to be the same then who are we as individuals? When you take a long look at Our communities you realize that not everything is perfect or to some extent right. AS young individuals i think we have alot to balance.From school to after school activities and family and friends we need to focus on ourselves in order to function how we understand things and what we're going to do. I'm not saying BE SELFISH, but i'm saying if you can't help your own self then how can you help others around you? let alone your community?He also stated that there should be a certain level of individualism to keep our communities progressing. i believe this is true. i also believe that our communitites and people in them aren't all fair. We're supposed to be a team. when he was talking about the democratic party it reminded me of a certain group of people i know. People like to play Folow the leader. They basically "Win" by having the most people in their group. To a very big extent it buggs me because it makes me feel like alot of innocent individuals are being mocked. It's as if they were saying"NOpe. We have the most people we win!."Where is their Logic? Where is their REASON? People can be very selfish. I hear alot of people talking about American Dreams and America. i hear them speaking about all those "stupid" people who do drugs and prostitution etc... In case no one has noticed part of the reason why that can happen is because alot of people never listened to them and excluded from society and categorized them as wrong. If people are worrying to much about the community, then how come i never see people helping them out?
After reading the blog I understood were the author was coming from. When the author wrote on his blog “I tend to think about ‘me’ a lot.” Wow, that seems like his a selfish person. As I really thought about it I realize that everyone has the characteristic of being selfish. I believe that there is nothing wrong with it. Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe that being selfish to the extreme is okay. The world is not just about you and the world sure does not revolve just around you. Everyone is somewhat selfish; choices that you make in life are made based on what benefits you not what benefits your mom, sister, neighbors and so on.
ReplyDeleteAs we had a class discussion about this blog I got a different point of view on it. If ever community was a “utopian” community we would be living a life based on just lies a world that is basically fake. We would basically have no voice (no right to think our own way.) New ideas would be denied since we had to agree with everything. We would not be able to grow mentally because we would have to thing inside the box, we would be basically trapped inside a little box.
**YESENIA TORRES**
Koios's blog entry his strummed quite a few notes within me. A lot of his concepts seem to click when I compare them to some of my own ideals. My philosophy is an amalgamation of individualism and collectivism. While that sounds contradictory, given enough thought, the fog lifts and reveals an area of compromise between the two. However, if force by hand to agree with one side, I would lean towards individualism. My argument for so is that in contrast to collectivist arguments of individual depending on community, I believe in the converse. The community is made up of individuals and thus, depends on the individuals that comprise it. Koios states that he is individualistic primarily because he feels he needs space to a certain degree. I believe individualism helps people discover who they are and what their niche is much easier than a society that seems to glorify lawyer, doctor, and upper echelon aspirations that may appeal to some but not the majority. To address the idea of dangerous herd mentality mentioned in the blog, I believe that is certainly one of the dangers of collectivism. You can extend collectivism to nationalism and even patriotism. These are all forms of collective glorification that throughout history have caused war and genocide. Again, I do believe in an interdependence between community and individual as stated but I would never stress the community more important ever.
ReplyDelete