ESL 21b #1761

Essay 1.2

The Advantage and Weakness of Individualism

I grew up more than 17 years in S. Korea, and I lived United State about 6 years. While I am livingVTense {***}MissingWUnited StateSing/Plu, I couldWChoice experience Americans different devotionWChoice withWChoice Koreans. If Americans have devotion to individualism, Koreans have devotion to totalitarianismExplain; I can not define which one is exactly wrong and right, because the both devotions have the advantage and weaknessSing/Plu together.

    In my opinion, most ofCut Americans can not have deep friendship each other because of the individualism. According to the 'American Values and Assumptions' of Gary Althen:

They are trained from very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They're not trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or any other collectivity. (5)

Americans are trained to conceive of themselves as separate individuals, and they assume everyone else in the world is too. (6)

Thus, they are not used to depend on their friends; however, most ofCut Koreans are used to depend on their friends a lot. When they are againstWChoice some bad situations or crisis of their life, they usually consult fromCut their friends. For example, it was really hard decision that I come to United State, because the decision would affect onCut my whole life and future. I was so afraid of failure, so I asked advice to my friends, and they encourage me to go {***}MissingWUnited StateSing/Plu. As theArt result, I am here right now. Koreans trust in their friends a lot, and I think it is the reasons why they have deep friend ship each other.

    On the other hand, sometimes the totalitarianism of Koreans gives big damage to individuals, because they can trespass upon privacy of each other. Their notion of the privacy is not obvious. For example, even if it is a problem that I do not want to let others know and want to solve by my self, such as family problem, sometimes I should tell my friends the problem, because they worry about me. If I do not tell them all the way, they will think I am not trust in them. Actually, Koreans do not think it is big damageAwkward, but in Americans view, it is big damage. In the article of Gary Althen:

    Also closely associated the value they place on individualism is the importance Americans assign to privacy. Americans assume that people "need some time to themselves" or "some time alone" to think about things or recover their spent psychological energy. (8)

    Thus, privacy is very important to Americans, and their notion of privacy is obvious. They really do not like that someone trespass on their own privacy, and they assume everyone else isWChoice too, so they do not trespass upon others; they do not give any damagesAwkward each other.

    In sum, Koreans feel comfortable at totalitarianism, and Americans feel comfortable at individualism, because they already trained at the devotion. The both devotions of Americans and Koreans have advantage and weakness together, so nobody can define which one is right or wrong. In my opinion, it is the best way that keeps having the advantages of both devotions, because both privacy and deep friendship is very important in the life. Especially, Korean Americans or American Koreans should keep having both devotions flexibly.