Charles H Milby High School - Buffalo Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Individualism in an Organized Society Could Hamlet have been written by a commit- tee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club? Could the New Testament have been composed as a conference report? Mechanization of modern times created for man a state of depend- ence on machines and on each other. With the liberation of man through legislation and radical changes in customs came a wave of thought and subsequently of invention and creation. Certainly the individual enterprise of capitalism has encouraged the expansion of industry and scientific research. Certainly a government that interferes as little as possible in the lives of its people, makes the philoso- phers feel free to express their ideals in words, images, or music. But the increase in technology and the capacity for achieve- ment has also created a greater dependence on other people, a trend towards collectivism and bigness. Mammoth cor- porations employ millions, huge church movements minister to millions, labor unions organize millions, far-reaching television and radio programs broadcast to millions, mass production is turning out millions of look-alike cars, garments, appliances, and houses. Even the space program, which focuses so much attention on a single astronaut, must be backed up by millions of ground workers in order to be successful. The answer to the question about organized creativity (Could Hamlet have been written by a committee?) is, of course, no, since creativity is an expression of highly in- dividualistic ideas. But, here is the dilemma of our time: artists, writers, and musicians isolate themselves from the compromise of big corporations, but can the millions whc depend on these corporations for work still retain their identi- ty? In an exaggerated sort of way, advertisements reflect the needs and values of modern America. When they claim that their product is used by people who think for them- selves, when they warn that if you're not you, you're nobody, they are revealing this dilemma of the Age of Machines. In modern terminology it's a matter of conforming or non- conforming, but a more basic explanation is that man must find and be himself so that he can have self-respect. If his occupation is tightening three bolts in an automobile assembly line, he probably cannot feel the same pride in his work- manship as the skilled craftsman who carved furniture in less automated times. This unsatisfied need combined with the shorter working hours is one reason people are becoming more involved than ever in do-it-yourself projects, politics, social welfare, cultural endeavors, and golf. Even those very few people who have no outside interests besides television, who never vote or engage in serious discussion, who think no original thoughts are individualists on a very small scale. They have to feel some kind of prefer- ence when they choose one product over another, decide to watch the Saturday Night Fights instead of the Late Show, or do any of the hundreds of other things that are possible only in a free society. They are a far cry from the equally small minority of large-scale or true individualists who pursue a markedly independent course in thought and action. But fortunately they are also a far cry from the serfs, slaves, and plebeians whose lives were regulated by Church and Aristocracy. In this sense, then, modern America can be considered a Nation of Individualists. 6

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The Emergence of a New Idea Man's physical and mental progress is indicated by these three heads: the first is the oldest (1,750,000 years) known human skull, the second is a bust of an Egyptian king who lived approximately four thousand years ago, the third is a photograph of Albert Einstein who lived in the Twentieth Century, but produced thoughts appropriate to a far-advanced age. The rugged individualism that accompanied the hard work in America is graphically portrayed in this Reming- ton painting of the old West. With Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me, Christ asserts the worth of each person.

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The faces of America are as varied as the personalities, but behind each is some of the spirit of independence that made this country free. The character of modern American individualism is symbo- lized by this sculpture of a powerful man, striding vigorously towards his goals. 7