Essay Question Example

Essay Question Example Essay Question â€" Essay Example > ContentIntroductionOverview of a modern capitalist societyUnderstanding individualism and collectivism Discussion of the extent to which the capitalist society should be organized according to the individualist values rather than the collectivist values. Conclusion Introduction A capitalist society is one that has an economic system whose basis is on private ownership in regards to both the means of production and the process of creation of goods and services for the purpose of making profits for business enterprises that are privately owned. A capitalist society may take different forms, which include state capitalism, mixed economies and laissez-faire. Since time in history capitalism has undergone revolution with political economists, economists and historians all over the world taking different perspectives as far the analysis of a capitalist society is concerned (Christian 2007, p. 113). To a very high degree, the organization of modern capitalist society is seen to have char acteristics of both individualism and collectivism. However, the big question arises as to what extent the capitalist society should be organized according to the individualist setup rather than the collectivist setup. To begin with, individualism implies to the organization that encompasses the promotion of and exercises an individual’s objectives and desires hence reflecting the value of self-reliance and independence. With this organization, there is greater opposition of any external influence or interference by the society as far as an individual’s interests are concerned (Swart and Koenraad 2007, p. 80). On the other hand, collectivism is the kind of organization that shows greater emphasis on the existence of interdependence in the society. With this, organization groups’ goals are prioritized over personal individual goals with the promotion of cohesion within the groups in the society (Triandis and Harry 2001, p 59). Contrary to individualists, collectivists have th eir focus on the nation, community or society. Through out history, both individualism and collectivism have been seen to exist in diverse types of economic and educational, government and political philosophies. The elements of individualist and collectivists have been contained in most societies. The extent to which the modern capitalist society should be more individualistic rather that collectivistic relates highly to the matters of policy and politics. It is quite a fact that the society moves towards liberalization day after a day (Gray 2008, p. 66). This is evidenced by the fact that quite a number of political ideologies have cropped up supporting capitalism in the modern world from the perspective of liberalization which is understood to relate more to individualism (Louis 2003, p. 24). In the contrary, collectivism is understood to stifle the aspects of diversity and individuality through the emphasis placed and stressed upon common social identification for instance nati onalism. The implication is therefore that for the people in the modern capitalist society to enjoy democracy and their individual rights it should be more focused to the individualistic organization than to the collectivist organization. In the modern capitalist society, there exist class systems which are understood as to relate to a certain level of economic nature. The capitalist class constitutes self-made men and it is only open to people who have quite essential individual qualities (Christian 2007, p. 116). This concept relating to social classes in the society is seen to be more closely related to the organization of the society from an individualistic point of view. Today, individual people are seen to be more attached to their own personal welfare rather than to the social groups in which they are part. It is with no doubt that, from an economic perspective, these people have their class interests they want to attach themselves to, with the freedom of being part of any group if they wish to. In this case, within the sphere of modern capitalism the aspect social mobility is demonstrated. Against this is a good example of the caste system in India whereby there no promotion of an individualistic society (Triandis and Harry 2001, p. 67). It is therefore crucial to have the modern capitalist society to uphold individualistic perspective in order to enable individual to exercise their won freedom as they wish.