ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the costs of individualism to society. It defines society and then examines American liberalism, which describes how Americans understand and relate to American culture and institutions. Liberalism prioritizes the claims of economic interests over societal interests, property rights over the rights of people, and market freedoms over individual freedoms. In After Liberalism, Immanuel Wallerstein argues that the modern nation-state, an early creature of the liberal project, has become the major obstacle to democratization and economic transformation. Following in the footsteps of John Locke and in defense of political freedoms, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams advocated the preservation of liberal economic freedoms and stressing the great importance of private property advanced government laissez-faire policies to protect commercial interests. The language of liberal, individual rights stresses differences in individual achievements and outcomes, while the language of human rights stresses the rights to an identity and culture.
