Emerson and American Individualism
“Trust thyself: Every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
One cannot help but look around America these days without noticing any number of selfish behavior patterns masquerading under the misnomer of “American Individualism.” Emphasis on the individual is certainly a defining American trait within our culture, and our culture is so diverse and hard to pin down that defining traits stand out all the more. When selfishness masquerades as individualism, it paints the concept of “Self Reliance” as a pejorative, when in truth it need not be. And so, on this Independence Day—in a critical year of our evolution as a culture and as a people—I am drawing my mind back to American Transcendentalist and influential philosopher of American Individualism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, his essay, “Self Reliance,” and the paradoxical concept (stated above) at the heart of his philosophy. I hope that you may join me for a moment in between the hot dogs and fireworks.
When we approach Emerson’s maxim—“Trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string”—we immediately notice the seemingly conflicting formulation of his sentence. What Emerson calls for is reliance on one’s self—yes—but not for the betterment of one’s self alone, or simply to exercise one’s freedom for the sake of being free. Instead we are called to trust ourselves because, “[t]he power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.” Emerson’s call for self reliance is a challenge to each of us to maximize our own potential in the hope of creating an empowered society of individuals in which each individual contributes the best that they have to offer as a result of cultivating themselves to their very highest nature. To trust in oneself—to follow one’s own path—becomes, not selfish, but productive, not just for oneself, but for all of American society: “Every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
Even more, the very conceptual difficulty of the paradoxical maxim lifts us out of the type of materialistic thinking that claims superficial concerns as the crux of one’s own “individualist” behaviors (e.g. wearing a mask). Emerson’s American Individualism is a call to better oneself pragmatically, psychically, and spiritually. Thinking of Individualism as a justification for a superficial aesthetic choices diminishes the legacy of our American philosophical transcendentalism. To really enact the type of American Individualism that Emerson challenged us all to in 1841, we must put aside our selfishness to become our best selves—rising above superficial concerns about our appearance, because our best selves rarely worry about such trivialities. We grow beyond our own selfishness when we individuate (to borrow a term from later thinker CG Jung) towards our spiritual potential. And when we individuate, we offer our best to the world around us, not just for ourselves, but for the betterment of all mankind. And to me, that goal is another cornerstone of American identity.
If you are an American and you haven’t read “Self-Reliance,” you can access it by following the link below. If you are an American who claims to live by the doctrine of American Individualism and you have not read “Self Reliance,” I highly recommend devoting a few moments of your Independence Day to reading a founding document of the philosophy you claim to believe (I know I know, “Don’t tell me what to do!”). Happy Independence Day! Grab yourself a hot dog.