Atomized individualism cannot work in society- PM Gonsalves

A society which consists of persons who only think about themselves, that is, “me, me, me” is a society which is not sustainable says Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

Speaking at a press conference at Cabinet room on Thursday, April 20 Gonsalves said he thinks society these days possesses a lot of persons who deal with atomized individualism.

A Google search identifies atomized individualism as a theory that refers to, “the tendency for society to be made up of a collection of self-interested and largely self-sufficient individuals, operating as separate atoms.”

“I want to make this point, and I will make it over and over again and I am making it from years and years of study and experience and reflection.

“A society which consists of just an aggregation of atomized individuals is a society which is not sustainable. You have to be a social individual in solidarity with one another for that thing call a society to be sustained,” Gonsalves said at the media conference in Kingstown.

He said the material base for this “pristine” individualism, is “dog eat dog capitalism.”

“This is why I am never into the me, me, me, by extension of my body my choice and all these sort of things.

“You have to take into account the interest of the community, the interest of the society. Of course you have to take into account the interest of the individual, but a social individual in relation to the community,” the Prime Minister commented.

He said a lot of people do not want to talk about these things but as leader, he has to mention them.

“I talk it because unless as a leader I can speak the truth as to how I perceive things, well why are you electing me? For me to be mealy mouthed and to be pushed hither and thither and don’t have a rudder and we don’t have a compass?

“So the very mode of economic organisation has to be reformed, that is an entirely different thing than saying that the reason why people go to crime is because they’re poor,” he reasoned.

“… That is too limited an understanding and perception of it because as you know, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, you have poverty, one quarter of the population, but we don’t have one quarter of the population as criminals who want to do all kinds of different things but it is plain for everybody to understand that within the same home, same family, you have one boy who end up at university, maybe to lecture, and another one round by her Majesty’s prisons for a serious offence.”

The Prime Minister was speaking in the wake of his return from Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) where he attended a Caricom Crime and Citizen Security symposium which was held under the theme, ‘The Challenge of Crime-A public health issue’.

He said the two-day symposium had several outcomes and coincidentally on return, he received “a very interesting” paper from Reverend Adolph Davis (Methodist Minister) on the question of family and crime and it is very “interesting”.

The Prime Minister who is also Minister of National Security, said the government takes the issue of fighting crime seriously.

“… And what is interesting, for two months between 9th February and 9th April, there was no gun crime, no homicide and nobody said anything, and by the time you had two cases there was a lot of politicizing and hyping of the matter, ‘rivers of blood’ kind of talk.

“…. But that is unhelpful because anybody can shout anything and have a slogan…,” Gonsalves said while adding that the government is seeking to deal with the problems and ideas are coming from persons who want to deal with the issues, not play politics.