John Stuart Mill from “On Liberty”

Here John Stuart Mill makes some very interesting observations about liberty. The strongest of these comes from chapter 3 when Mill discuses finding ones’ own way in life. It sharply echoes his past of his nervous breakdown and his forced education. Mill strongly believes in the concept of finding your own way in life stating “it is for him to find out what part of the recorded experience is properly applicable to his own circumstance and character” (518). This one phase captures Mill’s life. Mill regretted not having a proper childhood and being raised the way that he was. He clearly feels that the best way to learn about life is to experience it. Mill clearly yearns for people to express their individuality and not to conform to current society standards. At the time of industrialization it was easy to conform to new standards. In China it sparked off the Boxcar rebellion in an effort to resist industrialization and westernizing of China. However, for most of the world individuality is lost. “… The mind itself is bowed to the yoke… conformity is the first thing though of… they become incapable of any strong wishes or native pleasures” (518). Perhaps this is what Carlyle and Engels were fighting against the conformity of the world. Industrialization brought forward many great inventions and standardizations yet it also destroyed the concept of the individual. Thomas Jefferson wrote about his want for the United States to only become a self sufficient agricultural nation. Jefferson was afraid of this loss of individuality that Mill’s is writing about here. But the issue is that for someone to truly be individual they would stick out from the societal norms. In a city like London that was unacceptable leading to the conditions that were talked about by Carlyle with no one talking to each other on the streets, becoming ever increasingly self contained and not wanting to venture out and explore the parks.