Why Individualism Is Invaluable

Disorderly leeway: Because the United States gives so much leeway to individuals to pursue their own path, there isn't the kind of orderliness and sense of neatness you get in a lot of other countries.

Upside and downside: The upside of the notion of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is that you get an enormous amount of entrepreneurism and ingenuity, and the downside is that a lot of people have voices that you might not like.

Individualist questions: Individualism means deciding, “Does this serve me? Does this make sense? Are these the values I hold?”

No collective importance: If you really believe in individualism, then you believe that the collective doesn’t really matter.

Entrepreneurial start: In all cases, entrepreneurism starts with an individual who has what they consider to be an ingenious new way to approach the marketplace.

Best government: Government governs best when it gives the maximum leeway for ingenious individuals to create new value in the marketplace.

Preventing competition: When entrepreneurs have become successful, they often cross the line and now want to prevent other entrepreneurs from coming along and being ingenious.

Individuals are smarter: In terms of running their own lives, individuals are a lot smarter than the people who are trying to run the country.

The most freedom: Because of the resources and opportunities available, and because of the way the entire system has been designed—especially on the basis of the Declaration and the Constitution—individuals in the U.S. have far more freedom to plan out and create their own lives as individuals in an exceptional way than individuals in any other country.

Big weaknesses: The weakness of large corporations is that their ability to respond to outside change declines as they get bigger.