INDIVIDUAL ACTION

[摘要] Considered in isolation, the individual's demand for education . . . , for an auto, for a country cottage, can be taken as genuinely individual wants. . . . Acting alone, each individual seeks to make the best of his or her position. But satisfaction of these individual preferences itself alters the situation that faces others seeking to satisfy similar wants . . . there is an "adding up" problem. . . . What each of us achieve, all cannot.A break between individual and social opportunities may occur for a number of reasons; excessive pollution and congestion are the most commonly recognized results. A neglected general condition that produces this break is competition for performance. Advance in society is possible only by moving to a higher place among one's fellows, that is, by improving one's performance in relation to other people's performances. If everyone stands on tiptoe, no one sees better. Where social interaction of this kind is present, individual action is no longer a sure means fulfilling individual choice. . . .

[学科分类] 儿科学