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It does not seem as if man could be brought by any sort of influence to change his nature into that of the ants; he will always, one imagines, defend his claim to individual freedom against the will of the multitudes. From Freud, Civilization and its Discontents.
It is unfortunate that, when an individual has been accustomed to policing during infancy, life in a liberal milieu where policing does not exist produces anxiety in him; he is like a fish out of water. Conscious cooperation with society is one thing; and unconscious self-policing is another, even though, to unsophisticated eyes, they may appear the same.
Is there mental health in liberty itself, or merely in conforming to the established cultural institutions, or to authority?
There appear to be two distinct and diametrically opposed cultural concepts affecting both the individual and national culture of peoples. Borrowing from Hamlet's famous quandary, 1 I have christened these the 'to be free' concept and the 'not to be free' concept. The Japanese insist upon the insignificance of the individual (the 'not to be free' concept); while American political theory stresses individualism, or the 'to be free' idea. The Japanese psychiatrist, Tsuneo Muramatsu, describes the difference in the developmental goals and character structure of the Japanese and American adult thus: 'Americans were emphasizing individuality, 2 spontaneity, efficiency, progressivism, rationalism, and mutual cooperation in a "gesellschaftlich"3 or "contractual" relationship between individuals. In contrast, the Japanese were still stressing the concept of society as a unit under the direction of a single authority, uniformity in each defined status, the insignificance of the individual, 2 with conservatism, conventionalism, traditionalism and loyalty in a " gemeinschaftlich "4 or "family" relationship between individuals.'5
Even after considerable thought and study, and a careful examination of the contrasts evident in individualism and