Social Dynamics: An Interpretative Scheme

In the culture of the United States, the “model of the mind” of people is pervaded by the desire to feel fully autonomous in the social sphere. The systemic nature assumed by the interdependence between individuals does not in fact rise to the rank of interpretation of the functioning of society. It is likely that this intellectual attitude is the legacy of the rooting in society of the foundational category of social interaction that was dear to Thomas Jefferson: independence. In drafting the first draft of the United States Constitution, Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal and independent”. This last word, however, does not appear in the final text of the Constitution, which was approved while he was in France. The concept of independence is intended to have a reinforcing value of the right to freedom. The literature on social mobility is still largely inclined to assume—exactly as in the draft of the Constitution penned by Jefferson—that in their aspiration to social ascent all men are equally free and independent—that is, each on his own, without taking into account others. This questionable formulation of everyone’s right to freedom serves to reject the idea that—as J. Stuart Mill well saw—everyone’s freedom is inscribed within rules to prevent it from having negative consequences on others.