The Limits of Individualism and the Power of Community
1. The Limits of Individualism: Is it Possible to Praise Greed?
There are three important issues that, upon analysis, help us understand why the neoliberal individualist model cannot improve the problematic situations in which people and communities are immersed.
1) Marginalization, Poverty, and Social Exclusion
These issues cannot be explained solely by referencing the individual who suffers. Studies of the socio-cultural environments in which the inhabitants of American ghettos operate have highlighted the crucial role played by context in the reproduction of poverty. In this sense, authors such as Lewis, Moynihan, and Harrington developed the concept of the culture of poverty to describe a lifestyle, values, and expectations that shape the lives of the people who make up these ghettos and are transmitted from one generation to another. Socialized in this model, individuals find it much more difficult to exploit opportunities and face problems.
2) Restructuring of Industrial Capitalism
The restructuring of industrial capitalism, resulting in what is now called information capitalism or global capitalism, creates and strengthens various exclusionary factors worldwide. Market logic is neither neutral nor innocent, and the growth of global inequality is the result of an intrinsic and necessary logic of current capitalism. Our development model is not the only possible one, and the variety of responses to the challenges of advanced capitalism, as seen in the different models of the welfare state in European countries, shows two things: it is possible to establish a different economic model and, therefore, the positive and negative consequences of our society originate in this model and can be tackled and solved with appropriate methodology.
3) Relational Identity
Our identity is relational. The pattern of relationships in which we socialize establishes the boundaries within which we construct our identity and relate to others. To go beyond those borders, we must change the pattern that structures our social interaction. The exaltation of individual interest, greed, competition, overcoming others, dominance, and power over others are the dominant features of our model of relationship with ourselves, with others, with nature, and with the market.
Socialized in a consumption and interaction pattern as a model of participation, we seek to satisfy our deep need for socialization and identification with others through the rituals of shopping in commercial supermarkets. Paradoxically, the impossible realization of this in a consumer environment makes objects, caught in an unstoppable consumer dynamic, anxiety, discontent, and dissatisfaction continue to grow, often among the younger population.
Only from the perspective of another subject can we regain our identity as autonomous beings.
2. Enabling the Person for Community Interaction: A Round Trip Journey
The community social worker, in their experience, should take into consideration the personal dimensions that enhance community interaction. We can highlight the following:
1) Knowledge of Self
Knowledge of the modes of action, skills, qualities, and values that one possesses, as well as weaknesses and abilities.
2) Capacity for Self-Assessment
The person is judged capable by themselves and knows when they are acting right or wrong, and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
3) Ability to Make Decisions
Being able to make decisions provides a high level of safety and well-being.
4) Emotional Stability
This can be defined as personality integration, i.e., the integration of instincts, impulses, tendencies, needs, emotions, feelings, experiences, and actions with thought and will, that allows an individual to react to different stimuli in a stable and autonomous way.
5) Ability to Take Risks and Responsibilities
People who can take risks and assume responsibilities are those who are trained and experienced, seeing it as a challenge and an opportunity for growth.
6) Willpower
This can be defined as the ability to guide forces and energies towards a goal.
7) Exercise Capacity
We mean the will to want, i.e., the continuous action and striving to achieve a goal or fulfill an action.
8) Ability to Live Together
At an intimate level, this refers to the ability to cope with our own past, traumatic experiences, and our positive relationships. In interaction with others, it refers to being trained to respect others.
9) Authenticity
An authentic life refers to one’s personal history, linked to full consistency with firmly established values and beliefs.