Collectivism Vs. Individualism The Unknown Citizen And...

The debate of collectivism against individualism is one of the most famous and important debates of all time. There are several approaches to defining these two terms: politically, with emphasis on the role a person takes in society, or philosophically- what makes a person think collectively or individually. Even though one might say that both theories are important, both W.H. Auden s The Unknown Citizen and Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal reflect criticisms of collectivism and promotes individualism. There are two main types of collectivism: â€Å"horizontal collectivism† and â€Å"vertical collectivism†. Collectivism has been characterized as horizontal collectivism , wherein equality is emphasized and people engage in sharing and†¦show more content†¦There is emphasis on freedom: freedom to accomplish and achieve, which provides social status. One’s own identity is just oneself. The most crucial difference between individualism and collectivism is privacy and freedom. For collectivism, the interests of the group can override privacy and freedom. In an individualistic society, the right to these two things are extremely crucial. W.H. Auden s The Unknown Citizen reflects criticism of collectivism and promotes individualism, because Auden depicts that the unknown man has no freedom or happiness under a collective form of society. Basically, the poem is a satire of standardization at the expense of individualism† (Haffenden). Standardization defines as to implement and develop standards. In this poem, the government implements many systems, such as ‘Producers Research’ or ‘High-Grade Living’ in order to standardize its citizens into one collective, obedient mass. Auden writes, â€Å"That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint, / For in everything he did he served the Greater Community† (Auden 7-8). The words ‘Greater Community’ are capitalized. When one looks at the entire poem, the words that are most crucial for the bureaucracy are capitalized, like ‘War’ or ‘Union’. This quote is almost the exact definition o f collectivism: the self is less important than the ‘Greater Community’. Auden continues to describe