Radical Individualism

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses the subject of radical individualism, looking at 'American Democracy in Peril: Seven Challenges to America's Future' by William Hudson and other sources. The writer discusses how
Hudson espouses a viewpoint that turns what most people think is right with America, that is its individualism, and makes it a lethal weapon to the democracy Americans also say they support. The writer describes that for Hudson and Stivers and other writers of distinction about the American experiment, individualism without corresponding community, at times is a prescription for disaster. The writer contends that radical individualism, as practiced in modern America, is isolating and depressing, hollow and waiting to be filled.

Table of Contents:
The Argument for a Constitutional Monarchy
Collectivism vs. Community
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Hudson went much further back than that in proposing that Radical Individualism was at cause for the slow destruction of the American experiment, and that the problem could be traced to the very founding of the nation, although modern factors such as the media were certainly culpable as well. But at base, it is not a 'thing' that is to blame, but adherence to a concept all too easily pushed to an unworkable extreme. Myers called the current expression of the excesses noted by Hudson a "social recession."
Hudson called it a Pathological Politics of Rights and Interests. Although Hudson is at pains to trace the problem to the very foundations of the nation and before, certainly the pathological 'rightism' that has been increasing for several decades is a prime factor in making the U.S. democracy unworkable."

More papers on Radical Individualism:

• Term Paper # 99107 : "Quebec Radical Cheerleaders"
• Argumentative Essay # 139131 : "Radical Right Wing Commentators"
• Comparison Essay # 65827 : "Realism, Liberalism and Radicalism"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: