Realities of Rugged Individualism

Every now and again the notion that “rugged individualism” is lost in America and that therefore America is in decline rears its ugly head.  

 It has most recently surfaced on the internet as a video clip from the motion picture “Without Reservations.”  This clip is heralded as “John Wayne Schools a Socialist 50 Years Ago—And It’s Still Relevant!” and “John Wayne Mops the floor with Liberal Lady.”  The clip contains the following dialogue delivered by Wayne; “Have you ever heard of some fellas who first came over to this country?  Do you know what they found?  They found a howling wilderness; the summers too hot and the winters freezing.   Did they have insurance for their old age, for their crops, for their homes?   They did not.  They looked at the land, and the forest and the rivers; they looked at their wives, their kids and their houses.   And then they looked at the sky and said ‘thanks God.  We’ll take it from here’…They were men!!” 

Those circulating this video call themselves Conservatives.  This hyperbole is extreme and demands proper perspective.

First, we must attempt a clarification for all these Ideological labels.  Universally accepted definitions and concepts for political labeling and ideologies do NOT exist. Reference A Malat Musing (“Ideology Versus Party”). 

To further clarify, neither William F. Buckley Jr., the once undisputed guru of American conservative thought, nor President Ronald Reagan, subscribed to “rugged individualism” as a cornerstone to conservativism.  Moreover, the most “rugged individualist” to ever occupy the presidency, Teddy Roosevelt, scoffed at the notion.  Suggesting the callousness of “rugged individualism” is at the heart of conservative doctrine is preposterous and does a grave disservice to the rational conservative voices among us today.

Next, we must deal with progress.  The idea that cooperative and collaborative programs, such as insurances, have weakened or softened us flatly ignores the pain, suffering and injustice that were commonplace in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.   Downplaying or demeaning these advances is as ludicrous as believing that only real men would still plow their farm land with donkeys and horses.  

Also, “rugged individualists” seem oblivious to the importance of two national government programs. The first was Lincoln granting homestead protection to everyone who went west.  The second was his set aside program to use government property to build our land grant colleges.  It is therefore disingenuous to suggest that ONLY the sweat of the brow won the American west when Federal Programs also played a huge and vital role in that development.      

Then we are faced with the reality that not everyone is able to till the soil.  We have the handicapped, the poor, the underprivileged.  There are those who suffer from bigotry and discrimination.  Then there are those who spent their lives toiling in their fields only to have nothing to show for it.  They are left to die poor, sick and in pain.  Those among us callous enough to hold to the “survival of the fittest” mindset that is the linchpin for the typical “rugged individualist”, need to spend some serious time with the New Testament.

Finally, how do we accomplish what can only be accomplished through the collective efforts of all Americas if we hold to a “dog eat dog” or an “every man for himself” mentality?  How do we progress and improve our state of being?  Could rugged individualism have been the impetus for the military, police and fire departments or for unemployment insurance, federally insured savings accounts or public schools and libraries???  

And then we too need to look “at the sky and” say “thanks God.” Thank You for a compassionate and enlightened America that dismisses cruel and destructive ideologies to the common good and general welfare of our nation.  And most especially, thank You for the established cornerstone of the collective efforts created between government and private concerns that have resulted in a far better way of American life within our blessed Republic.