(Written about 1960)
Individuality
The key to individuality is a lively sense of personal freedom. This is the recognition that there are many aspects of our personal lives which we can control. To accept the responsibility for these aspects and to make them what we want them to be, is to be an individual.
Individuality is a social, metaphysical, introspective state of affairs. It is a function of the religion of the person. It can be fostered by any influence or agency which promotes personal thought and personal responsibility.
Values
The great value available to children is undoubtedly happiness.
Happiness, as opposed to mere pleasure, stems from the following combinations:
- Individuality
- Accomplishment
- Social Harmony
The principal value conflict would likely be that of undisciplined pleasure vs. happiness. Cultural forces largely tend to promote pleasure as the great good (e.g., most advertising). The forces which promote happiness are basically religious (church and school).
Cultures
Cultures are mythological concepts invented to deal with people as averages (masses). Actually no two people have exactly the same values, ideas and habits. As long as we do not make “cultures” into definite absolutes, they can be useful concepts.
A “culture” is simply other people. The more one is involuntarily like those around him, the less individuality he has. The opportunity to be in a situation of multiple cultures is one factor necessary to free a person from his “mother” culture to become the person he desires to be.
Cultural contrast threaten a person if he has no individuality. If he has none, he desperately needs the group to think and feel for him. Therefore: Since cultural contrast is a real and present reality, we can help people to feel culturally comfortable by encouraging them to be individuals (to think and feel for themselves).
Solution to the problem of youth.
Youth will acquire three things, if fortunate.
- A lively sense of individuality. This will involve deliberate choosing of a culture to be one’s “own,” but freedom to move from it to others, or to try to change it.
- Linguistic ability. To be able to speak at least two languages well is critical. One language must be the dialect of the cultural group which the person chooses as his own. The other language must be the national norm; this frees him from his dialect and subculture. Linguistic ability gives a person mobility and educational opportunity.
- Practical skill. To have at least one marketable skill is essential to the mental and moral (as well as the economic) health of every adult. To let a child grow up without acquiring one is to curse him. Such a skill is the key to accomplishment.