Collectivism and Individualism in Sustainability

The Borg will sometimes spit one out…

Individuals (as a unit) use defense mechanisms to respond and deal with their perception of the ecological crisis. Increasingly we see that people find comfort in shared common thoughts and feelings within a group.  What happens when individual members have ideologies that move them to the extremes of the group?

A recent occurrence around a horticulture GMO research facility caught my eye. In this case, an activist group had threatened the facility with a day of action where they were going to infiltrate the facility, destroying their plants and their work. They were considerate (?) enough to inform the facility of their intentions, so as to ensure that no personnel were present and potentially in harm's way during the insurgence. In response, the lead scientists of the facility appealed to the activists in the form of a video posted on YouTube. It must have worked, as only one individual from the activist collective came out to trample plants.

What brought this individual to this state, and how did the group perceive this action? Clearly the individual was strong enough in their convictions to go through with the action, but the disconnect with the larger group will have ostracized him from them. The group would perceive the individual as being increasingly radical and extremist. How amazing that they were once part of the collective, but that the collective moved on, leaving them to stand alone. The potential the group unconsciously sees is that the extreme individual is now a threat to the comfort level of the collective.

Is individual behavior change the way forward, or is change in the collective the most effective mode? Individual effort and effect can lead to collective effort and effect, but it is an arduous journey, whereas the collective effect more easily influences the individual. It goes both ways and each have affect on the other. It feels good to have the common thought, but there are also feelings of guilt that are group - driving to help move people.  Tapping these values can hold the greatest influence on an individual.  Addressing an issue through intrinsic values can drive and shape an individual, strengthening the message.  Just as it is our values that have disenabled us to adequately address the crisis we face, it is through our collective values that we will find action, driving our collective and individual behavior. 

There will always be potential, as long as we maintain an eye on the prize.  As long as there is a chance for success, we (and I, you) will continue to find a way to support our moving toward it.