Nicola's Essay

Collectivism is the ideology in which people work together for the common good of the society. However the question can be raised to what extent should we or do we embrace this ideology. Whose perspective do we go by? When a society is controlled collectively some of our individual rights and freedoms can be taken from us and we are forced into a community of people that we may not agree with. A collective society can have a positive or negative outcome, but I personally believe it has more negative effects than positive. The aspects of a collective society that create negative effects are; people taking advantage of beneficial systems, relying on other to live, government representatives missing the point of making decisions for the common good of the people and it could lead to producing extremist groups that treat people with disbelief harshly.

As citizens of a collective society people often can have their rights and freedoms taken from them. Not all their right and freedoms are taken away from them but many can be. These rights and freedoms include freedom of speech, private property, self-interest and economic freedom. When a community on a smaller scale is looked at, for example a school or small group within a community, the behaviours and attitudes of an individual affect the whole school or group, especially if the system was. In communities if one individual was to break, damage or ruin public property in any way often this area would no longer allow other individuals to use during certain times, or without certain supervision. Rules and laws are placed upon everyone because of one person’s behaviours. This makes an unfair punishment for the citizens that have had their rights taken away from them and were using it for all the right reasons.

Another disadvantage of having a collective society is when citizens rely on the society to support them. These support systems can often be in the forms of benefits, welfare, public property and relying on the individuals around them. If one has been raised in a collective society their whole life then this may affect them in the long run. It would be just as hard to go from an individualistic society to a collectivist society; however you know how to live and earn for yourself, or provide for a family. When welfare or social programs are being abused then other people that are in a more dire need of the money or support miss out. People mistreatment these programs by taking more than they need or misuse what the money is for.

When individuals ask for money to help them by groceries weekly or monthly but go and spend that money to feed an addiction, we as tax payers are still losing our money and it isn’t even being used for the right purposes. People who use welfare for the wrong reasons are they types of people I mentioned in my second paragraph when I said citizens “abuse the system” ruining it for others. The first line of the topic sentence says, “It must be the first duty of each citizen of the state to work with his mind or with his body”, if they is what the source is saying then why are do citizens get in the habitat of relying on the welfare money to get them by whether it was for the wrong reason or the right reason. When they get comfortable with these sources of income without even having to lift a finger they get comfortable having the idea that the money will just keep coming. This is one of the reasons a collective society is unfair. Some people in the community are earning all the money, paying more taxes for the people that are too lazy to work.

A collective society is run and supported by government members and citizens that are fighting for the common good of the people. This one of the positive aspects of a collective society; however there are some down falls to this structure as well. When everyone is fighting for the good of the people some issues either get overthrown or not listened to. The highest person presenting ideas will be listened too. The people in control of the government will do what THEY think is best for the community or group and not what the citizens think is best for the community they are living in.

The activities of the individual may not clash with the interests of the whole, but most proceed within the frame of the community and be for the general good." This statement is suggesting that if we, as the citizens, want to pursue a certain job, religion or belief, it must be for the common good of the group. If I was fighting for a collective society then I would 100% agree with this statement however, when you look at this from an individualist’s point of view it is not correct at all. If we had to do everything for everyone else then we may never fulfill a desire or belief we had. If there was individuals that had a different religion than the rest the society they would either have to keep it a secret, practice it discreetly or conform to what society wanted them belief. Their religion may not physically or mentally harm the rest of the group but it will always be the majority wins.

All of the points that have been raised throughout have clearly proved that living in a collective society may not be what is best for a group of people. People need to learn to earn money for themselves, think of themselves, receive punishments for their own mistakes, learn from their own mistakes and support themselves with their own work ethic. When one gets told to do something for themselves they may be horrible at first, earning minimum wage and living off close to nothing, but if they do this long enough they will soon learn what they need to do in order to make more money for themselves as individuals or provide for a family. There is no way they can get worse if they start at the bottom, they will always get higher up in society even if it take a few years.