The Power of Us

Has individualism gone too far?

We Americans have a long and mostly positive history of embracing individualism – the idea that any one of us can become anything we want if we have the talent and work ethic to reach the goal. The concept of individualism includes as well the values of self-reliance and self-expression. America owes its remarkable success to the freedom we have to pursue our dreams and speak our minds. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Yet something seems to be happening in our society that troubles me. Individualism, for all its benefits, can be taken too far, and we’re seeing that now in American society. This trend is being aided and abetted by the extraordinary rise of social media, which permits unfettered self-expression and seems to encourage people to speak before they think.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I love social media and its power to create networks of people to pursue a common cause. It is one of the great blessings of the digital age that we can quickly and efficiently mobilize people of good will to advance a movement.

Technological Advances

But every great technological advance carries with it some unique risks. Digital communications too easily appeal to the temptation to act and speak immediately without due consideration of the consequences. And it’s not just from the casual social user – look at professional sports organizations, such as the National Football League, which had to ban players from posting their thoughts before, during and after games.

All this individualism runs counter to that other great American value, summed up in the Latin phrase that adorns our currency: E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). That’s the magic of America – all of us coming together, despite our differences, to create community. “I” is important, but “us” is more powerful and necessary to a fully functioning society.

That’s the magic of America – all of us coming together, despite our differences, to create community. “I” is important, but “us” is more powerful and necessary to a fully functioning society.

(As an aside, the concept of community and relationships is really important to me. I grew up in South Africa, where my father had a small department store in Port Elizabeth. In those years, long before social media, my father’s store served as a place where the community got to know each other better and relationships were formed. And now, at Henry Schein, we don’t have employees. We have Team Schein Members, because we want to reinforce the cultural imperative of working together as a network to support our suppliers, customers, and society. Individualism is valued most when it contributes to the success of the team.)

What we’re seeing too much of in American society today is an unwillingness to be on the same team, to put short-term personal interests before the community’s long-term interest, to reduce everything to a single transaction that is happening right now. In the end, long-term relationships built on trust and partnership yield the greatest result.

Embrace One Another

We need a new movement in America, which social media can help to advance, that celebrates expressions of community. We need more individuals to post content in which we embrace each other and our differences, rather than focusing on the mundane, everyday acts of one’s life, a perpetual step-and-repeat of selfies.  

But it goes far beyond selfies, of course. We need to resist the temptation to tweet our outrage at every single slight, no matter how insignificant, and direct our energies to tweeting more often about those acts of community that bring us together. We can never forget that Us is always more powerful than I, that We matters more than Me.  

In the days ahead, the 2018 Winter Olympics will begin. The Olympics are a time when nations come together in good will and fellowship, united by the glory of sports and the honor of country. The Olympics represent the ideal of individual achievement (me) in service of a nation (we).

The Olympics also generate lots of images and social media content. My favorites are the pictures of the teams marching in the Opening Ceremony, proudly representing their country.

Those are the selfies I look forward to seeing.