Tim Cook's Collectivism

Collectivism is generally defined as the subjugation of individuals to a group (especially society at large, as represented by the state), or an emphasis on group membership:

1

:  a political or economic theory advocating collective control especially over production and distribution; also : a system marked by such control

2

:  emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity

Here is Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Computer, writing in a piece published in 'Bloomberg Businessweek' on October 30, 2014, that he's proud of being gay --

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http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-30/tim-cook-im-proud-to-be-gay#r=hp-ls

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For years, I’ve been open with many people about my sexual orientation. Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I’m gay, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me. Of course, I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky.

While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.

Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.
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Notice that Cook describes being gay as a 'gift from God', and not a chosen behavior.  This means that his statement of pride is for a group birth characteristic, rather than an individual achievement.

Notice that normally people do not express pride for birth characteristics, since such characteristics do not reflect on an individual's choices and actions.  That is, birth characteristics are not chosen, and so have nothing to do with individual character traits.  And because we have no control over them as individuals, birth characteristics are morally irrelevant, and cannot be used as a criteria for individual judgement.

For example, statements like these would be considered nonsensical by reasonable people, though they also mention what could be called 'gifts from God' —

• "I'm proud of being 71 inches tall."
• "I'm proud of having hair on my chest."
• "I'm proud of not having hair on my chest."
• "I'm proud of being left handed."
• "I'm proud of having green eyes."

Such statements would beg the obvious question: 'why would you be proud of characteristics that you have no control over, and that do not distinguish you as an individual, since many, many people have those same characteristics?'

Tim Cook expressed a collectivist sentiment by expressing pride in his membership in a group, since that meets one of the definitions of collectivism — the emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity.

Cook went on to describe qualities he believes are positive, and that he believes being gay helped him develop, but notice that he did not say that he was proud of those qualities.

That is, Cook did not say, for example, that he is proud of having developed a deep understanding of what it means to be in the minority, or for being more empathetic as a result.  Even though he listed qualities that he believes being gay helped him develop, he specifically stated that he is proud of what he described as his birth characteristic of being gay, and not his chosen actions or character traits.

This way of speaking is typical of today's culture, where so many people think in such terms regarding race and sexual orientation.  But notice that racial pride is just as nonsensical as being proud of any arbitrary physical characteristic (like those listed in the statements above).  Racial pride, in itself, is an expression of racism, not just because it too is an emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity, but because by definition it is a denigration of racial groups.  Saying, 'I'm proud of being <my race>', is the same as saying, 'I'm proud I'm not <some other race>'.

If all races (or sexual orientations) have the same moral standing, there is no good reason for feeling a sense of pride at belonging to any particular one — if all groups are equal, then the group that any individual happens to belong to is irrelevant.

Tim Cook might have written some version of this —

I'm proud of the things I've done to become empathetic, and to have a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority.  Doing these things has been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry.  And I'm convinced that being gay has helped me develop character traits that I'm proud of, so I'm glad that I am gay.

But he didn't.

Tim Cook makes it sound like it is much harder to become an empathetic person if you are not gay — it begs the question, does he think being gay is morally superior to not being gay?  He certainly did not make that claim, but it is too bad that he made the implication — however unintentional.