Hope Beyond Rugged Individualism

The philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote presciently about the danger of a society of lonely individuals. She defined loneliness not as solitude—since solitude is where one can reflect on their connection to themselves and others and really prepare themselves for encountering others. She described loneliness as isolation and even alienation from others ... See more

We take part in rugged cooperation every day. And businesses can be run with rugged cooperation, too.

Rugged individualism is still deeply enmeshed in American culture. And its myth is one of our biggest exports to the rest of the world. Rugged individualism is the philosophical foundation that convinces you that if you fail, it’s because you’re not good enough. Rugged individualism erases the impact of structural and systemic inequality.

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What could happen if we replaced the philosophy of rugged individualism with a philosophy of rugged cooperation? What if we swapped out the scripts we’ve learned in an individualist culture with the curiosity and care of a collaborative culture?

Herbert Hoover’s successful bid for president culminated in a speech on October 22, 1928, that enshrined the concept of rugged individualism into the American mythos.

In every way you can imagine, the United States was only the land of the free for a very narrow slice of the population. The rugged individualism Hoover sought to restore had a color—... See more