Gavin Maxwell

Gavin Nelson

Molly Fenn

English ¾

19th of October, 2015

 

Self-Reliance: An Impossibility

 

     Why do we kid ourselves?

     The United States is a country built on the backs of millions, either by force, like slavery, coercion, or necessity. Knowing this, it is strange that as a society we idealize an American Dream that symbolizes self-reliance or being self-made. This dream for self-reliance stems from a group of philosophers called the Transcendentalists. This group wove the impossibility of self-reliance into American society. Those who say they are self-reliant, have seen convinced by an ever elusive ideal, and don’t recognize the benefits they have received. True self-reliance has never been possible because humankind from birth has a natural connection to one another, which follows them to later in life and even enables society to function.

     Most notably, self-reliance was written about by the Transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau and other Transcendentalists treat self-reliance as a way to free people from the confines of society, and even go so far as to say “I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude,” but in reality it is limiting how much any person can grow.

     From the day humans are born the connection to other beings in this world is strong, and is required for proper cognitive development. Studies have shown that growing up, human behavior is modeled after ones parent’s behavior. Even if the parents are in the child’s life but aren’t modeling appropriate social skills, the offspring will be more likely to have developmental problems as it grows up. For example, in a study conducted by The University of Connecticut they found that the more the subjects spoke to their children, “the more the one-year-olds babbled”. The study explains that the babbling is a “forerunner of word production”, and an essential part of language and general cognitive development (Foran). At the lowest level, this study proves a biological need for human connection. If self-reliance were truly possible there would be no need for this human connection, but instead this bond is necessary to the growth and survival of all humans.

     The notion that people need other people to survive, is an idea supported by the theory of Social Capital. Social Capital is the notion that the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society enable that society to function effectively (De Souza Briggs). Further, Social Capital theory argues that there are specific economic benefits to be gained from these social networks. In fact, Xavier de Souza Briggs, a professor and leading researcher from MIT well known for his work on Social Capital, has gone on record to say “...getting [Social Capital] wrong will be fatal to America” (De Souza Briggs). Briggs goes on to explain that Social Capital is not only necessary for the general public, but for the individual as well, stating that every time a friend confides in us or we talk to them as a confidante, that is Social Capital at work (De Souza Briggs). This demonstrates that people need human interaction to grow, whether or not a person wants to grow in their career or their emotional capabilites.

     The final limiting factor of true self-reliance, at least in the capitalist structure of the  United States, is the fact that without a workforce, no society can sustain itself. Forward thinking individuals may want to move up the social ladder, and ideally they could do this by themselves, but that has never been possible. To move up the social ladder especially in areas of business, one has to employ the help of others. Because of this, being self-made is an impossibility. Even Donald Trump, a “self-made” man received a “small” loan of a million dollars from his father to start himself on the path to wealth (Gass).  This shows that nobody no matter how high someone is on the social ladder at began their careers with the help of someone else.

     Self-reliance is an impossibility perpetuated by American society, the prevalence of transcendentalism in modern day literature, and the wealthy few. As humans, we grow through contact, so why should we limit ourselves to only interacting with ourselves?