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Would you prefer America to be more collectivist?

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Would it be better?
1. Yes. 60%  60%  [ 3 ]
2. No. 40%  40%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 5

Azureth
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15 Jul 2026, 11:59 pm

Than invidualistic? Kind of like Japan? I have always thought it would be better. Here in America you have so many different kinds of people you have to cater to to either worry about not offending or worse, causing a massive riot. You have all these idiots that believe their way is oh so more important than anyone else, think nothing of acting like a Karen and causing a major blow up in a store yelling and screaming etc just because your order is slightly off.

Get pulled over and start yelling and screaming just because you're too stupid to have your license, insurance, registration.

Not to mention FAR less issues for politicians to divide us over.

Were America as homogenous as Japan would



funeralxempire
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Yesterday, 12:02 am

No, I don't believe either of those models is all that good. I believe you can have social individualism while still caring about your countrymen's well-being.


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Yesterday, 6:30 am

Agrees with the above post by FuneralEmpire ...btw WB. to W P


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belijojo
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Yesterday, 9:02 am

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timf
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Yesterday, 9:47 am

Collectivism is always sold as a more equitable way to organize. In practice it is always a way to enslave. For example communism is often sold as "Everyone can have everything all the time". This sounds attractive. However, in Cuba getting 2 hours of electricity is a special treat.



Touretter
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Yesterday, 8:33 pm

timf wrote:
Collectivism is always sold as a more equitable way to organize. In practice it is always a way to enslave. For example communism is often sold as "Everyone can have everything all the time". This sounds attractive. However, in Cuba getting 2 hours of electricity is a special treat.



If we were in the position of Cuba , relative to the U.S.S. R. , we would have had similar issues . So long as a nation is allowed to be free to flourish , it should be able to do so .







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Yesterday, 9:12 pm

Japan as a culture appears perfect and ideal on the surface but underneath they do have problems like anywhere else in the world such as:

* One of the highest suicide rates in the world.

* A highly xenophobic attitude towards foreigners and outsiders.

* Zero tolerance for abusers of narcotics and yet ironically having a culture where alcoholism is a pretty big problem.

* A culture where women are seen and not heard, where things like sexual assault and spousel abuse go largely largely unreported due to the negative stigma and shame regarding these problems.

* Outdated medical practices and views towards the mentally ill that have been condemned by the international medical community (my Mom who's a therapist had to research this before I went with my sister, I had to be extra careful about being stable because if I had a mental breakdown from my bipolar disordee there would be no returning home from one of their mental facilities for me.)


Now don't get me wrong I love Japan as a country and there are a lot of great and beautiful things about their culture, but the reality is that Japan is far from being the the shining Utopia that many Anime/Manga/Video Game fans in the West idolize it to be.

I just don't believe that it would work any better for the states.



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Today, 12:39 am

I prefer communism with a human face like what Alexander Dubcek tried before the soviets smashed him.



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Today, 12:44 am

Honestly I don't believe any attempt at installing communism would ever work in the US and would more than likely end in disaster for us and the rest of the world.



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Today, 4:49 am

Individualism blames the individual for all dilemmas and ignores structural unfairness.


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WillTedRose13
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Today, 9:26 am

belijojo wrote:
Individualism blames the individual for all dilemmas and ignores structural unfairness.


I'll take that over having my needs ignored and my flaws blamed by the entire collective any day.



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Today, 11:31 am

WillTedRose13 wrote:
Japan as a culture appears perfect and ideal on the surface but underneath they do have problems like anywhere else in the world such as:

* One of the highest suicide rates in the world.

* A highly xenophobic attitude towards foreigners and outsiders.

* Zero tolerance for abusers of narcotics and yet ironically having a culture where alcoholism is a pretty big problem.

* A culture where women are seen and not heard, where things like sexual assault and spousel abuse go largely largely unreported due to the negative stigma and shame regarding these problems.

* Outdated medical practices and views towards the mentally ill that have been condemned by the international medical community (my Mom who's a therapist had to research this before I went with my sister, I had to be extra careful about being stable because if I had a mental breakdown from my bipolar disordee there would be no returning home from one of their mental facilities for me.)


Now don't get me wrong I love Japan as a country and there are a lot of great and beautiful things about their culture, but the reality is that Japan is far from being the the shining Utopia that many Anime/Manga/Video Game fans in the West idolize it to be.

I just don't believe that it would work any better for the states.


Japan has very good housing policies. NIMBYism and single-family zoning are nonexistent, public housing isn't stigmatized, and they have no problem building high-rises despite being a seismically active country--their building codes are tied with Chile for being the strictest in the world. And what they build is middle class-friendly, whereas what we build is mostly luxury this, luxury that.


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WillTedRose13
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Today, 11:38 am

Tim_Tex wrote:
WillTedRose13 wrote:
Japan as a culture appears perfect and ideal on the surface but underneath they do have problems like anywhere else in the world such as:

* One of the highest suicide rates in the world.

* A highly xenophobic attitude towards foreigners and outsiders.

* Zero tolerance for abusers of narcotics and yet ironically having a culture where alcoholism is a pretty big problem.

* A culture where women are seen and not heard, where things like sexual assault and spousel abuse go largely largely unreported due to the negative stigma and shame regarding these problems.

* Outdated medical practices and views towards the mentally ill that have been condemned by the international medical community (my Mom who's a therapist had to research this before I went with my sister, I had to be extra careful about being stable because if I had a mental breakdown from my bipolar disordee there would be no returning home from one of their mental facilities for me.)


Now don't get me wrong I love Japan as a country and there are a lot of great and beautiful things about their culture, but the reality is that Japan is far from being the the shining Utopia that many Anime/Manga/Video Game fans in the West idolize it to be.

I just don't believe that it would work any better for the states.


Japan has very good housing policies. NIMBYism and single-family zoning are nonexistent, public housing isn't stigmatized, and they have no problem building high-rises despite being a seismically active country--their building codes are tied with Chile for being the strictest in the world. And what they build is middle class-friendly, whereas what we build is mostly luxury this, luxury that.


Like I already tried to point out, their culture isn't all bad but it isn't all great either. They still have some serious issues within their culture that the West often ignores when trying to romantasize Japan.



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Today, 3:33 pm

Quote:
Would you prefer America to be more collectivist?

Would it be better?
1. Yes.
2. No.
You may select 1 option


Depends on exactly how you define "collectivism." According to dictionary.com:

Quote:
the political principle of centralized social and economic control, especially of all means of production

IMO some things should be centralized/collectivized, other things not. Natural monopolies should be either run directly by governments (e.g. the Tennessee Valley Authority) or heavily regulated, whereas many other products and services can safely be left to a relatively free market.


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funeralxempire
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Today, 4:53 pm

timf wrote:
Collectivism is always sold as a more equitable way to organize. In practice it is always a way to enslave. For example communism is often sold as "Everyone can have everything all the time". This sounds attractive. However, in Cuba getting 2 hours of electricity is a special treat.


Who sells communism as that? :scratch:

That's the sort of utopian fantasy that Marx dismissed, so it seems unlikely that communists would embrace that sort of framing.


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Just a reminder: under international law, an occupying power has no right of self-defense, and those who are occupied have the right and duty to liberate themselves by any means possible.


funeralxempire
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Today, 5:04 pm

belijojo wrote:
Individualism blames the individual for all dilemmas and ignores structural unfairness.


Agreed.

Although hyper-collectivism can also fall prey to ignoring structural unfairness, because admitting there's a collective issue causes a loss of face, but blaming individuals allows the system to pretend the problem is bad actors, not a baked in problem that will require the collective to blame itself and make changes.

Conservative collectivism is probably the hardest sort of system to achieve change within, individualism at least allows people to retreat away from flawed systems.

Hyper-individualism might be great for those with the means to separate themselves from flawed systems, but how many can actually afford to do so? Worse, it allows people to point to those who've managed to succeed despite the flawed system as proof that the system isn't actually as flawed as it is. The people who escape also might be following paths that aren't actually viable for most.

I feel like a balance between collectivism and individualism is needed, as well as the humility to accept that criticisms of systemic flaws aren't personal attacks against those who aren't impacted by or benefit from those flaws.


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The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. —Malcolm X
Just a reminder: under international law, an occupying power has no right of self-defense, and those who are occupied have the right and duty to liberate themselves by any means possible.