The Individual and Society Society Exists to Serve
Individuals—Not the Other Way Around SEPTEMBER 01, 2003 by
ARTHUR FOULKES Over lunch recently a philosophical friend of
mine reflected, “U.S. history is the story of a struggle between
the individual and society as a whole.” A few days later another
friend, equally philosophical, said something similar: “It
always comes down to a conflict between the individual and the
community.” I have often heard this. The individual and the
community have conflicting needs and wants. This is simply the
truth. Or is it? “Society” is essentially the regularities,
customs, and ground rules of interhuman behavior. These
practices (and their acceptance among people) are tremendously
important to how humans act and interact with each other. But is
there really such a thing as a “society” whose goals conflict
with those of individuals? I don’t think so. Society does not
exist independently of individual human beings. As Ludwig von
Mises noted, “The individual lives and acts with