The Group and the Individual

As Raymond Cattell pointed out, groups take on their own psycho-dynamics, tied to the temperament of the individuals within the group. I like to apply this to the states within the United States, and to a future Europe and Eurasia of thousands of states. For example, the Midwestern Swedes and Germans in the U.S. created states that are culturally different from the Scotch-Irish Southern states.

This is why I speak of small states and regions as virtual ethnostates, and why their differences need to be protected by a light federalism. The group and individual are like the hen and the egg, does the egg exist for the hen or the hen for the egg? Political abstractions are tied to patterns of the individuals in the group. The group in this sense has a life of its own, just like individuals.

But the cultural advance of a group is tied to the innovations of individuals, to a surprising degree. Therefore it is vital to support priceless creative individuals. It is not always easy to tell the difference between unethical deviation and very creative deviation, but this must be done. Unchecked individuality can go too far, like the wild adolescent, or the radical libertarian. The individual is like a cell in the body, the organic unity of the whole needs to be taken into account.

This position regarding the group and the individual can allow cultural creativity and evolution to flourish around the world.  This is the answer to the dark warnings of people like Pat Buchanan.  Will we eventually find leaders to make this happen?