“Self-Reliance” by Emerson

A few semesters ago I took Domestic and Global Business Environment 640 class for my MBA. Some of the questions, along with subsequent answers were really good; and I thought I would include them in my blog.

One of the articles covered in the class was “Self-Reliance” by Emerson. The class had to answer “What does what Emerson means by “self-reliance”?”

A fellow student had this to say about Emerson: I believe that in the rural isolation of Emerson’s time it was possible to be a self - reliant man. A person who lived with few people around him and was responsible for providing his own livelihood with no help from neighbors or the government was truly self-reliant.

I disagreed with that statement, and wrote back that I don’t think it was the rural isolation of Emerson’s time that allowed him to believe in utopian idea of a society, which is what his concept of society would be should self-reliance as he proposed it, be taken in its most pure form. Emerson came from quite a wealthy family. I think the fact that he never truly understood the hardship of the working class via actual experience had a great impact on his idealism on how the society ought to operate.

Emerson was of a belief that American industrial Revolution was killing the humanitarian aspect of the society at large by replacing human labor with machines, and doing away with reliance on the land. I can understand his analysis that lesser amount of direct human contact can have devastating effects on the society, which is what drives his insistence on self-reliance of each individual. And the examples you give are a good proof that Emerson’s fear wasn’t unreasonable. His idea of self-reliance doesn’t propose separation from each other and the society, of which he is often unjustly accused. Rather Emerson’s self-reliance is a chance to find our inner selves, and use that to connect with one another.

I am a big believer in a golden middle. While I think Emerson’s concept of self-reliance is a very much on a target, its full implementation is neither practical, nor realistic. I am mindful of the fact that Emerson was quite wealthy, and didn’t struggle in his life as a simple person would while trying to make a living for himself. It is plausible to stop and wonder if Emerson would change his ideas if he truly lived a life of a working class. Another variable to consider is that while our ideal worlds might work the best for us, we cannot escape the reality of the society we are born to, or choose to join. We can, however, implement our ideal worlds and make it a reality by constructive behavior, patience, hard work, and willingness to stand by our ideas.