Collectivism: Article

As Planned Parenthood takes a step ahead, so do opponents

On Friday, PPH President Jill June confirmed that North Platte is still under consideration for a clinic.
"With more than 20,000 residents, it would be wrong to ignore the community," said June. "No definite decisions will be made until we have reached our fundraising goals."

      
     Planned Parenthood president Jill June's statement exemplifies that she believes opening a clinic would be for the benefit of the collective. In my personal opinion, I share her belief. Collectivism makes sure that the greater good of the people would be cared for, and I think that protecting the choices of potentially thousands of families is in the best interest of the group.

"We believe life exceeds a corporate boundary," said Rieker.

     Ed Rieker is also keeping collective goals in mind. However, his goal is to cut funding, and to prevent entirely, the opening of a clinic. He is always referring to "we" as a pronoun rather than "I". He is speaking on behalf of his group, representing their common and combined beliefs, and asking for this to be dealt with in a way that would please all of the members. Collective goals, naturally, may be reached via a consensus of all the members within the group. What most people tend to look over is that the leader still has more say than the collective's consensus.


     He states that "we believe life exceeds a corporate boundary." Which is essentially what collectivist, not-for-profit organizations would say. Life exceeds a corporate boundary.  Life is more than individual profit. 

"The building block of a stable society is the family, and life and families are under assault in our culture," Rieker said. "When we as a nation legitimize the killing of the unborn, we break the bond between the father and the mother and promote promiscuity and irresponsibility. Those things are detrimental to a stable culture."

   In this excerpt taken directly from the article, Rieker's use of "we as a nation" directly translates to "we as a collective." But by collective, he means his collective.

Collectivism: Quotation

"Reaching consensus in a group is often confused with finding the right answer." (Norman Mailer)

"Standardization of our educational systems is apt to stamp out individualism and defeat the very ends of education by leveling the product down rather than up. " (Harvey Cushing)

     To be honest, I had a difficult time narrowing down my choices to just one quote. SO HERE THEY ARE :D ALL THREE OF THEM IN THEIR GLORIOUSLY LARGE FONTS AND ETC. I believe that each of these quotes deserves a write up to follow it, but due to time constraints, my response will be focused on von Hayek's quote:

 "The principle that the end justifies the means is in individualist ethics regarded as the denial of all morals. In collectivist ethics it becomes necessarily the supreme rule." (Frederich August von Hayek)

     Frederich August von Hayek has essentially hit the mark in terms of describing collectivism in under three sentences. He acknowledges that the principle of "the end justifies the means" exists, and he clearly explains what that means to a collectivist and what that means to an individualist.

Collectivism: Image

[Image Description: A man in a business suit looking like he is in need of help sits down in a fashion similar to  someone  in need of a home. A sign beside him reads "Chose to go it alone. Please help." A passerby in similar clothing glances at the man and will either keep on walking or stop and help out.]

     I chose this image because, in a society that heavily values collectivist ideologies, trying to make it alone will get you nowhere. For example, in a communist society where equal distribution of resources is controlled by the government, all citizens are already cared for. If an individual has the basic needs (such as food, shelter, and clothing) already taken care of by the government, what other goal should they be striving for? It's  not like it's possible to advance yourselves in a society where actions should always result in benefiting the greater good. 

     I also picked this image specifically because the sign asks for help. I believe that this image represents collective ideals because, if that were true, the man with the suitcase WOULD stop and help out his fellow man. Or, actually, if the belief was that keeping everyone alive was the best thing for the collective, then the man would stop and lend a hand. However, collective societies usually run on agreement reached by consensus; and consensus doesn't always mean the right choice. If we were to assume that killing off the weakest members of the society would be ideal, then the man would walk right pass the man in need. This image, if you're open to both interpretation, represents how 1) yes, a collectivist society does do things to enhance/ protect the greater good 2) how "collective norms" are reached in a society may not always be the best choice.