The western culture develops strong individualism and eastern culture
develops group behavior. Each of it has benefits and pitfalls. It is important
to understand & analyze its merits and impact.
Between these cultures however there are many other differences. But
this particular one is of interest and seems significant.
In a recent experiment, a psychologist let few westerners and
easterners observe a pond filled with lots of small fishes and a large fish.
His observations revealed that the westerners retold all features and movements
of the big fish in the pond & knew less about the small fishes. Whereas the
easterners retold more about the group movement, features of the small fishes
& knew little about the big fish in the pond.
What is Individualism?
In the west, the parents develop child to be independent from the
beginning. By teen age itself they are encouraged to earn their living, live
independently in rented house, and take loan for car. They are encouraged to
find their own life partner.
This makes them very strong individuals. They are self-made & able
to stand on their own at young age. They stumble and get up on their own. They
are ready to take on the world. They understand the bad competitive, ‘ready to
eat each other’ world out there. They see the world as survival of the fittest
and hence have to constantly outsmart others to survive.
There is a problem however. There will be a sense of shame developed if
they seek any help in their life’s achievements from parents & close ones.
This is a problem because it alienates them from parents from their intimacy.
By the middle age they go through various life’s stress almost alone. On the outside
they are high achievers but inside they feel lonely.
The broken families, single parents, old age crisis are pretty common
and endemic in the west.
The Individualism is in theory very attractively depicted by Ayn Rand
in her famous books – Atlas Shrugged and Fountain Head. The names of the book
itself show off the ego of the individual & his capability. These are
highly optimistic stories never delving deep in holistic nature of the world.
The economists, policy makers like Alan Greenspan, Ronald Reagan
adopted these theories very well to overrule the world through their money
policies.
Group Behavior
In the east, the parental care & ‘cover’ for the child during his
growing years is high. Especially in the Indian culture, the youngster is
encouraged to touch feet of parents, Guroos at every important milestone &
take their Ashirvada for his success. By this, the ego of the young man goes
away. His success is attributed amongst his hard work and ability to god’s
grace and elders aashirvada. Our culture teaches him that he is what he is because
of all the people around him. A sense of belongingness, a group culture
develops. He is at ease through the thick and thin of his life because of his
strong family & community support around him.
There is a problem however. This will hold back his confidence to be
cut throat in competition & do everything to outsmart others. He will feel the
sense of carry along with others.
Just to quote an example: Once, Vijay Bhardwaj, our Indian cricketer while in
Australia insists on some specifics of the vegetarian diet, his mates call him
a cribber and ask him to make do with what is there. Whereas, when an
Australian comes to India & insists on some specific diet, he is hailed a
professional, one who knows what he wants.
So if there is a bad world out there, will an easterner compromise or
attack ruthlessly? If you see the world history, except Japan and a bit of
China’s aggression, all eastern countries have remained focused on their own
development and sustenance. Never bothered to go all over, conquer and enslave
others. Especially India has never done that.
Exchange of culture:
The east people are fast adopting west culture. Whereas the west will
never adopt east culture. It is a very difficult culture to adopt. Everyone in
the game from father, mother, young ones, the system, society have to change.
That is impossible. Where as to adopt western culture, it is easy. The
individual has to claim that he has earned all by himself and is a strong
individual. That’s it.
Now-a-days the urban development itself is highly individualistic. The
middleclass especially is fast adopting it due to its ease & system
support. An earning individual, able to pay bills will get water, electricity,
real estate everything from the system.
In rural, it is not that easy. Because there is no government system
supplying job. They are mostly agriculturists. They depend upon gods for land,
tilling, water, rain; they depend upon each other in a small community for transportation
& trade. They cannot fire someone if he is lazy. They have to succeed as a group.
So the group behavior is predominant. India being rural & Agri based for
many million years adopted this culture. Also it is significantly influenced by
the Dharma of the land by the rishis and muni espousing Dharma through our
epics. The Rajas of the yore gave such importance to the Dharma espoused by
these Rishis of the times, that India remained prosperous and had freedom at
individual level with a sense of duty to each other.
Now that the urban clusters are becoming
parasites of rural environs, we are fast losing rural environs necessitating
rural-urban migration. This will eventually destroy the group culture and
develop individualistic society. This will lead ultimately to the depiction of end
of Kaliyuga in killing each other.
