Individualism And American Family Patterns

Individualism lies at the very core of American culture, but it has come to mean so many things and to contain such controdictions and paradoxes that even to defend it requires that we anlyze it critically. This essay offers an thorough study, both lexicologically and historically, on basic Aamerican value—individualism as reflected in the historic changes of familly patterns.To study the the history of American family life, we have to keep in mind two things. One is that the U.S. is a capitalist society in nature,where individualism is extremely emphasized, the other is that, family, as a basic unit of human reproduction and social institutions, always keeps changing as society changes.Americans greatly cherish such values as individual freedom and self-reliance, equality of opportunity and competition, wealth and hard work. These values were formed in different periods in the U.S. history and help people better understand some aspects of American character and how they affect the present American family life.Historically, the American family, like those in European countries, was mainly a unit of production and consumption, whose functions in economy, education, religion and recreation were rather conventional. As the Protestant ethics and the Puritan tempers, represented by Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin, were cores that emphasized work, sobriety, frugality, sexual restraint, and forbidding attitude toward life, the Puritan doctrine about marital morality was very strict and the early Americans took a rather dim view of such sexual irregularities as premarital sex, fornication and adultery. Beside, for ideological and economic reasons, few families could afford a divorce.However, at the turn of the century, three factors started to shift American values and attitudes toward family life. The first is the ideological impact of the Young Intellectuals early last century, which stirred up a rebelling campaign against the Puritan ethics and helped produce the later hedonism in the 1950s, the Counterculture and even the Women's Lib in the 1960s. Two other factors are industrialization and the changing status of women. Industrialization, which separated the home from the workshop, changed the relationship within the family by casting the husband in the role of wage earner. The movement for sexual equality, by giving women greater independence from men, has altered the traditional family division of labor between male breadwinner and female homemaker. Both the changes have also brought more freedom for individuals.Because of the rapid development of the producing power, the family gradually has been getting weaker. Yet, during the half century, family decline in the U.S. has been steeper and more alarming than during any other quarter-century in the U.S. history. Four trends have emerged to signal a widespread"flight"from both idea and the reality of the traditional nuclear family—rapid fertility decline, the sexual revolution, the movement of mothers into the labor force, and the upsurge in divorce.How to evaluate the social consequences of the recent family decline in the U.S. today? Do they mean progress or problems? These are really very controversial issues, and the most difficult questions to answer. Women obviously have improved their status politically and economically, and those marriages today are more likely than ever before to be true companions because of more freedom of choosing and keeping marriage partners. However, the negative effects are real and profound. The greatest is that on children of broken families. In addition to those mentioned above, the fundamental factor for the family decline lies in the too much emphasis on individualism, which has taken root deep into every aspect of American social life. As the aims and desires of the individual do not always conincide with those of the society at large, how one's self-fulfillment should be developed, so as not to stifle it nor to bring to the society grave society problems has been a rather frustrating issue any culture has to confront.Faced with such rapid changes, many Americans are seeking to return to the ways of the past or stressing the development of extensive governmental programs offering monetary support and social services for families. Despite their merit, there should be a third one, which aims striking at the heart of the American culture shift—Americans should point out its negative aspects, and seek to reinvigorate the cultural ideas of family, parents, and children under the changing circumstances. They should bring again to the cultural forefront the old ideas of parents living together and sharing responsibilities.Historically, modern individualism emerged out of the struggle against monarchical and aristocratic authority that seemed arbitrary and oppressive to citizens prepared to assert the right to govern themselves, and it has long coexisted with classical republicalism and biblical religion. Individualism, liberalism and Christianity have jointly made up the core of American culture. But it is in the U.S. that the Europe-made individualism has fully developed and come even up to the limit.In every generation, Americans have encountered and solved various problems besetting the nation. Today, Americans must contend with both domestic and foreign problems of greater urgency. They must determine their national goals and appropriate means for moving toward these goals. Where does the U.S. and hence its value go into the future? Can Americans formulate new moral codes? How will they meet the challenge of the 21th century?The whole world has an interest in the answers which the history will give to these questions.