How Collectivism Leads to Violence: Examples from India

A devastating effect of the collectivist mindset is the emergence of massive societal turmoil and heinous crimes. Collectivists often unleash brutal force against people who are not of "their" kind and instead belong to some "inferior" group. In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, an untouchable man once slapped a higher-caste thief for stealing beans from his field. The self-righteously offended community responded by stripping the man's mother and parading her through the village amid a hail of stones and mud hurled in her direction.

First you said:

“This tragic event also portrays another element of collectivist perception: the delusion that all members of a group are accountable for an alleged misdeed of one,....”

And then:
“More widespread turmoil based on caste occurs throughout modern India.”

So based on the alleged misdeed of a handful of people in the couple of examples that you cited you paint all of India as having collectivist mindset. Isnt that what in your own opinion amounts to...... a “collectivist perception” that the entire country as a society is accountable for the misdeeds of the few?

How is the caste system collectivist? Doesn’t collectivism require forms of income equality, wealth re-distribution, and elimination of classes?

Caste system is the polar opposite of collectivist ideals. You could argue that the evils of caste system is due to its lack of any collectivism(economic, social, and emotional solidarity) between its castes even within a society.

Instead, the ideal Christian society is very collectivist and socialist in nature. Rich man not able to enter heaven and money being the source of evil, among other teachings, sound exactly like your typical collectivist position.

The way in which I use the term “collectivism” is indeed correct. Take a look at the following Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivism

“Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals. Collectivists focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group goals over individual goals. The philosophical underpinnings of collectivism are often related to holism or organicism - the view that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Specifically, a society as a whole can be seen as having more meaning or value than the separate individuals that make up that society. Collectivism is widely seen as the antipole of individualism.”

Does the caste system stress the importance of a collective rather than the importance of individuals? Yes. It considers individual membership in a caste as more important than that individual’s personal qualities.

Does the caste system focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group goals over individual goals? Yes. Individuals have been murdered in India because their goals and aspirations contradict the “caste goal” of rigidly adhering to one’s station in life.

Does the caste system entail seeing society as a whole as having more meaning or value than the separate individuals that make up that society? Certainly it does. This is why advocates of the caste system are ready to brutally sacrifice those who rebel against it.

Collectivism, as I use it, is fundamentally a view of morality and of man’s place in the world that is diametrically opposed to individualism. The Wikipedia definition is entirely in agreement with such usage.

I am

G. Stolyarov II

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/46796/g_stolyarov_ii.html

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