American Individualism: Andre and Velasquez versus Stewart and Bennetts Argument - Essay Example

American Individualism: Andre and Velasquez versus Stewart and Bennett’s Argument Saeed Al Ahbabi ELCB 0900-Advanced Academic Writing 9th of March 2015 American Individualism: Andre and Velasquez versus Stewart and Bennett’s Argument Various authors have explained American individualism. Most of these authors attempt to touch on each of the following points; how American individualism develops, the consequences of individualism value, and where this value is seen. Some of the authors have better explanations and descriptions than others. Although Andre and Velasquez derives their explanation of American individualism by describing it and presenting examples that picture what causes this value is good, still Stewart and Bennett’s examples and language are easier to understand, learn, and remember. Andre and Velasquez define American individualism as, “the belief that “the good society” is one in which individuals are left free to pursue their private satisfactions independently of others, a pattern of thinking that emphasizes individual achievement and self-fulfilment”(American Society and Individualism). This explanation of American individualism is clearer than Stewart and Bennett’s as it explains it by using the philosophies of other people. One of Stewart and Bennett’s explanations about American individualism is,” Social systems derive from the interactions of individuals who exist prior to the social order and who are acting in their self-interest (Bellah et al., 143).”(American Cultural Patterns, pg133) Andre and Velasquez’s explanation illustrates how American individualism exists and in which form. For example, they present two aspects of American individualism in their explanation that is “individual achievement and self-fulfilment” (American Society and Individualism). While Stewart and Bennett mention one aspect of American individualism that the people who act in their self-centeredness. So, Andre and Velasquez deliver the meaning of American individualism in a more thoughtful way than Stewart and Bennett. Stewart and Bennett’s examples are easier to understand and learn about American individualism and how it developed. A good example by Stewart and Bennett is the scenario when a mother in American culture gives her baby the choice of choosing which cereal she wants to acquire and through this encouragement of making a choice the baby grows to be a decision maker about her preference. This example shows how American individualism develops in American culture. In addition, Stewart and Bennett’s examples are clearer to understand and remember because their language is relatively basic. In contrast, Andre and Velasquez’s examples of explaining American individualism are complicated to understand and their language is complex and harder to comprehend. The examples used by Andre and Velasquez in explaining how individualism develops in American culture from misunderstanding the concept of freedom and spreads out to every institution and primarily in the market mentality. “Our nations founders, however, assumed that the freedom of individuals to pursue their own ends would be tempered by a "public spirit" and concern for the common good that would shape our social institutions”(American Society and Individualism). Andre and Velasquez point out that the freedom that the founders created for the people was meant to be as a group who live their lives pursuing the common good for the society. But, it seems through this freedom people forgets the basic concept of the founder’s idea and try to pursue their personal preferences. The example used by Stewart and Bennett in their explanation why this value exists in American culture, but the example used by Andre and Velasquez in explaining how American culture acquired this value through using the history of Americans. Andre and Velasquez’s article about individualism contains a lot of emotions that explains individualism and its effects rather than explaining more why individualism persists in American culture. While Stewart and Bennett explain the reason why American individualism is still exists by showing a comparison with other cultures. As Stewart and Bennett say,” In most societies such extreme forms of personal preference would not be cultivated, or tolerated. The child would be given what the mother thought social norms dictated” (American cultural patterns, pg133). Through this comparison, it is clear to the readers why some of the other cultures do not have the value of individualism. Furthermore, the sentence that comes after comparing to other cultures makes a strong interpretation of why American individualism is surviving in American culture. As Stewart and Bennett states,” But, American society implicitly accepts that children should be encouraged to make decisions for themselves, develop their own opinions, solve their own problems, have their own possessions, and, in general, learn to view the world from the point of view of the self. (American cultural patterns, pg133) As a result, Stewart and Bennett’s explanation of American individualism is easier to understand and remember than Andre and Velasquez’s. American individualism continues to be explained with a lengthy discussion from Stewart and Bennett and Andre and Velasquez. Notably, Andre and Velasquez focus in the solutions to American individualism. On the other hand, the explanation of American individualism by Stewart and Bennett focus on American workers who show relatively low loyalty toward their organizations and how the decisions of the workers to stay or leave are mostly based on salary and advancement opportunities offered. Here the reader concludes that most Americans value their benefits more than being loyal to their organizations. Stewart and Bennett assume that the readers do not know anything about American individualism. Contrastingly; Andre and Velasquez assume that the readers have basic background knowledge of American individualism. For this reason, Andre and Velasquez assume that the readers are aware of American individualism and thus, start to develop solutions as they see this value is affecting Americans life in a negative way. One of the suggested solutions that Andre and Velazquez propose is to reconstruct all the institutions in a way that will make the concept of democracy gather support so as to hunt down American individualism blinders. Andre and Velasquez’s point of argument that the institutions need to put the common good of the society, rather than putting their own good as a priority since institutions play an important role in shaping the common Americans’ life. The readers may take time to understand the points discussed by Andre and Velasquez, as the language used is indirect. On the other hand, Stewart and Bennett’s language is clear and direct to the reader to understand their points. In conclusion, Stewart and Bennett’s explanations, examples and language are easier to comprehend than Andre and Velasquez’s argument about American individualism. The only single point in which Andre and Velasquez surpass Stewart and Bennett is defining what is American individualism in a meaningful statement. But, the examples provided by Stewart and Bennett are easier to understand and learn why this value exists in American culture. Also, the interpretation of Stewart and Bennett’s examples makes it easier for the reader to remember American individualism concept. The language used by Stewart and Bennett is simple and direct, making it easier for the reader to understand the authors’ points. The ease of comprehension is another factor that makes Stewart and Bennett work more interesting than Andre and Velasquez. References Stewart, E. C., & Bennett, M. J. (1995). American cultural patterns: A cross-cultural perspective. Yarmouth: Intercultural Press. Andre, C., & Velasquez, M. (n.d.). American Society and Individualism. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v5n1/ Read More