INDIVIDUAL Vs COLLECTIVE - Which is better for Humanity? Chinese New Year Presentation.

Which is better for society and humanity? An Individualistic or Collective approach? Every Lunar New Year I depart from Tea to discuss wider topics. This year I focus on the tension between Collectives and the Individual.

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TEAWARE

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[YagrumBagarn]

"Positive individuals create positive collectives" well said..

[aprildaly]

Bravely & importantly said. Currently—at least here in the States—it’s almost startling to hear someone speak without manipulation in service to an unspoken agenda, visibly shaking with fury, or both. It’s a powerful thing to act as though your audience is already at your level. People will rise up. Thank you for taking the time, & for offering clear-sighted & rational thought. Refreshing as tea, & happy Year of the Tiger to all!

[cindyd]

I teach Rhetoric, in college, and we are getting ready to head into the rabbit hole of the rhetorical triangle...starting with ethics. I was soooo impressed with your clear and fresh look at these two ideas, so I used it in my class and made up some questions to go with it. This was awesome and my classes loved it!

[Stjerneklang]

People hide in collectives to avoid individual responsibility.

[thorarthurddz]

It's all about the sovereign individual. Happy new year!

[cszabo]

A heart that gives is a heart that gathers. Take care of the collective and the individual will thrive.

[jer]

I feel like if you love the world and those around you, individualism and collectivism would feed off of each other.

[stellajohannes]

HUZZAH!! Generated much tea table discussion on subjects we enjoy discussing :D Thank you for this thoughtful and well organized discourse!

[honestpuck]

Mic Drop. Epic. Loved. Can feel the tea hurrying on the wisdom.

[bezdaknebomizera]

Thank you for this video! What a great talk. I can relate to this topic a lot, since i used to be a vigorous promoter of direct democracy, than switched to a non-stop arguing anarcho-capitalist. And for most of my life, I was a militant atheist.

But only about a year ago I realised, that I always only took on ideologies that were closest to my morals, instead of directly talking about the actual morals of mine.

Now I prefer to discuss the personal opinions and morals, instead of arguing about why the others are wrong and how things should be. I also shifted to agnostic atheism and try to stay open-minded, when people talk about how their faith affects them.

[victorcarrascoalvarez]

Thank you for the content you create, you are bringing so much value to individuals. The way you experience tea is the way same way as you experience life itself, trusting it and letting it travel through you effortlessly, keeping it balanced, not judging but observing and being in the present moment to be aware of the subtlest notes.
I go pretty often now a days to you tea shop in Camden, I find it a great place to read and center oneself.

[hristovalchev]

The answer to the question posed in the title of the video is relative to the value system we adopt. As far as I can tell, what was said in the video presupposes a great importance of the value of "freedom". If one's goal is to be free (from oppressive structures, attachment to possessions, fear, etc.), this implies a certain answer to the posed question. If, on the other hand, one's goal is, for example, to serve God, then the answer might be very different.

[tudor-gabrielisbasoiu]

Amazing video, to wach while drinking tea.

[teasilverbankster]

I'm simply impressed that someone knows who Ludwig Von Mises is. You have my respect good sir and especially in terms of tea.

[hardstyle]

YES! I've been torn between the 2 starting in 2019 and the events that followed were such a trip! It's absolutely crazy that the likes of you and spiritual teachers, health gurus, self development coaches, business advisors, entrepreneurs, social skills coaches, spiritual teachers, ancient texts, etc have come forth and shined a beacon of light and hope for today and many more todays the future holds for us.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for guiding me to the benefits of tea, they have GREATLY impacted my life and the lives of those who have come into my life. I'm thoroughly enjoying my Organic Gyokuros, Puh er, black tea, silver needles. THANK YOU. And many blessings to you and your lived ones. And may all your endeavors be full of abundant prosperity ! I wish you great health, wealth, love and higher purpose
🍵🍵🍵

[daniel.lopresti]

What a fantastic and very topical subject for discussion, something I've thought about recently in an attempt to reconcile the two philosophies in my own worldview.

I've come to the conclusion that our approach should be very different at the cultural/societal level and at the political level (though of course they are inextricably linked). First off, I think the word individualism itself is often misunderstood to mean "each person for themselves", whereas I think it relates more to valuing each person as a distinct individual, with the inherent rights, freedoms, but also shared responsibilities that relate to the individual.

If anything, a political system which places high value on individualism will allow greater grassroots collaboration within communities to flourish, where social interaction is much more meaningful and effective compared to some faceless bureaucracy (as you so well put it) that tries to mend society's woes through all sorts of legislative interference. An extremely eye-opening interview I watched just yesterday put forward the idea that we've become so accustomed (as a whole) to expecting the government to keep us 100% safe from all possible forms of trauma, danger, evil, (offence, bad ideas, etc.) that inevitably they're going to take the freedom of meddling more and more in the everyday minutiae of our lives. It's interesting that currently, this seems to be what many people actually desire and expect.

At the societal level, on the other hand, we have been broadly seeing a degradation of the sense of "community" in the West, where many people barely even know their neighbours, let alone feel any sort of intrinsic belonging to, or involvement in, their local community. A lot of the discussion around current affairs in culture/politics revolves around this interesting concept of the "somewheres" and the "anywheres". Those who feel inexorably linked to, and share a strong sense of identity with, their hometown, region/province, culture, etc., as opposed to those who are quite happy moving around and making any place their home. I think this might go beyond the discussion of individualism v collectivism, but it does show how different groups find *their* sense of the collective in different places: finding common ground along social class, or shared ideas, rather than what to some seems a more intrinsic link of "blood and soil".

Would gladly love to discuss further over a few brisk infusions of Amber Gaba, which I'm really loving right now ;) Cheers for the "drinks for thought!"

[chrisladouceur]

Well spoken Don. Love these occasional enlightenings

[Wm.]

Computer people back in the 90s used to argue "client vs server". The obvious answer was: "put a server on every client".

[AhimSaah]

The problem is extreme individualism and extreme colectivism. Sweden vs. North Korea (the later being by the worse of the two in terms of living there, of course). In Sweden people try to avoid their neighbour, in North Korea kids at school are not allowed to use the world 'I' but have to replace it with 'we'. For me, a healthy society needs to find a way to balance those two. Otherwise society enters extremes: individualistic extreme leeds to allieanation, lack of social bonds, high numbers of single mothers, socially awkward people, Hikikomori people in Japan, lonely and abandoned old people, colectivistic extreme leeds to totalitarian states where people live in paranoia, fear and take part at their self-genocide. So, the answer is middle ground.

[linus]

It begins with the heart. The heart must see that all people are the same as it's Self. We are They. They are We. There is no Other. Nevertheless, each and every one of us is truly unique. A Self disconnected from other Selves is a truly miserable state of being. One that I've found myself in many times. There are many days that I wish I could see clearly how wonderfully beautiful we are. Tribalism is hard tongue to tear. Sometimes I feel that I'm a tribe of my own and that even the things I say and the way I speak separate me from others. I wish it weren't so.

Thanks for sharing these thoughts and ideas Don! I love thinking about these things!