Individualism (Third Post)

Both of the weekend readings imply the idea of individualism, though in different contexts and using different language. Blog about that idea of individualism as you see it in the world as you look around. Is our world, or our country--either, both, neither--too individualistc? How can you justify your answer? What do you see that informs your answer?

In my opinion, individualism is located in most facets of American society. The whole idea of the American dream is to be successful. Our economic system of capitalism is essentially stressing individual success. However, in Asian societies, it has been shown that they all work together in general. The article about China mentioned the Beijing Olympic Games Opening ceremony, which was one of the most intrinsically coordinated shows I've ever seen. the performers worked together to form a collective work of art. The article also mentioned that if an Asian nation could awaken from economic stagnation, it would become great. I'm not saying that I'm a communist, but their system seems to work; China is taking over the world economy exponentially. The lack of strength behind the U.S dollar is a strong indicator of that. I believe that if the United States were to learn more about collective thinking, the effects could only be positive. Overall, I think that a mix of the two cultures would produce something extraordinary.

Second post- Contextualizing?

b. You context…talk a little bit about yourself and about your context—what things might inform or color your opinions on the world and on what you encounter in others’ responses to it? This might include your age, your thoughts about your future, your family, your demographics, your experiences, etc

Things that may inform or color my opinions are the fact that I'm a 17 year old male from a middle class family. My parents are both immigrants from the third world country of Sri Lanka. I've been raised a devout, moderate Catholic. I want to major in business when I go to college. I'm applying to University of Notre Dame, UW, Georgetown, Gonzaga, and a few other places; I'm not positive where I want to go for sure. I row. A lot. My goal is to one day row in the Olympics, and as for experiences, I suppose it would depend on the situation to say what experiences might influence my opinions.

Edit- My name is Mihindukulusuriya Sahan Mario Joseph Fernando

First Post

a. Why you’re setting up a blog in the first place and what you believe you might achieve in spending a semester (at least) blogging both about your own ideas/opinions and in response to those of others.

I believe that we are setting up a blog so that we can track our thoughts and opinions over the varying articles that we will be reading. It is for both us and the instructor to view our thoughts and opinions and how they evolve over the semester.