Roberts 1

Jeremy Roberts
Mr. Turley
English I
5/20/16
Individual vs. Society
The individual is clearly more important than the society that they live in. Society is nothing
without the individuals who compose it. Human beings are by nature distinct, separate beings,
each with his own body and his own faculties necessary to his own existence each must use
his own mind and direct his own body; no one else can do either for him. People are
individuals. (The Objective Standard). Three main points will be discussed. First, individuals
are the backbone of society. Second, society is nothing more than a group of individuals working
in consort. Lastly, without certain individuals, society would fall apart.
Individuals are the backbone of society. According to Stedman Graham of Huffington Post,
It is having an identity, knowing who you are, finding your purpose and passions, and learning
how to shape and navigate your future, that makes the difference. and America cannot thrive if
its people do not thrive. Society is nothing more than a group of individuals who have come
together for some reason, and would thus be nothing without those individuals. Individuals are
the basic unit of society, comprising all other units. They make up families, which make up
communities, in turn making up regions, comprising states or provinces, then countries, and
finally society as a whole. Using this simplified breakdown, it is easy to see that society is
nothing more than masses of individuals, and society can only go as far as the individual wills it.
This leads to the next point, focusing on just how much society leans upon individuals.

Roberts 2
Without certain individuals, society would simply fall apart. We have placed much of the
power of our local and global societies into the hands of the few individuals capable (or not) of
running it. Regardless of these leaders competence, we have put so much responsibility onto
them that were all the worlds leaders to simply vanish, society as we know it would crumble and
blow away into the wind. The simple fact that we have put all the power into the hands of
individuals proves that we as humans believe the individual to be more capable of making
choices than the general mass of society. If you are still unconvinced, any remaining qualms you
have will surely be put to rest as we examine and debunk the opposing argument.
The most common argument against this point is that putting the rights of the individual over
those of society causes others to suffer. Despite the evidence against this idea, many people still
believe it, but they fail to realize that the betterment of one individual does not have to come at
the expense of others. Now if it did, then certainly societal rights would warrant more attention
than individual rights. Admittedly, many aspects of this opposing argument are enticing, but it
ultimately fails to stand up, as it is entirely possible for an individual to gain some form of
betterment without pushing detrimental effects upon others. Just look at any job. The individuals
working are surely receiving benefit, but is anyone being harmed by that? Certainly not. The
same goes for individual rights. Giving a person rights does not harm other individuals, nor
society as a whole. America was built around this principle. Look at countries like North Korea,
where society is put before the individual in a failing attempt to create the perfect society of
True Korea while the people suffer. Unfortunately, as Lorraine Hansberry put it in A Raisin in
the Sun, Assimilationism is so popular in [our] country. Society can rob the individual of their
ethnic and moral differences and force them into one mass of mindless drones without anything
distinguishing them..

Roberts 3
Clearly, individual rights should be put before those of society. Without individual rights,
society would crumble into a horrid dictatorship built on the broken backs of individuals.
Therefore, the individual is more important than the society they make up, because only the
individual has the power to make society beneficial for all those who comprise it.

Works Cited
Graham, Stedman. "Your Identity Matters." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web.
25 May 2016.
Hansberry, L. A Raisin in the Sun. London: Methuen, 1986. Print.
"Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice - The Objective Standard." The

Roberts 4
Objective Standard. Web. 25 May 2016.