Ralph Waldo & Kanye Omari: You Can't Tell Us Nothin'

Emersonian self-reliance is a concept that encourages individuals to be unaffected by external influences and opinions, and to always follow their own paths. Published in 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" essay was a testament to the fact that Emerson was living in a world where it was still possible to have a new idea, where individuals could succeed as individuals, without support. In Emerson's time, and in many decades to come, a proper application of "Self-Reliance" could indeed lead one to success. In these days, however, individuals self-reliant by Emerson's standards tend to be cut down by society. Children are inundated with encouragement to "be yourself" and told that "it's okay to be different" from a young age, to the point that it hardly means anything anymore. Conformity is valued, and those who step too far outside of the box are quickly reprimanded. One modern example of this is musical artist Kanye West. He began as a moderately-turned-wildly successful rapper praised for “doing his own thing.” In true Emersonian fashion, Kanye West made music he wanted to make, in the way he wanted to make it. Eventually, though, his music and his actions and opinions outside of music became a little too much. Several times throughout his career Kanye West has “gone too far,” crossing lines of what the public felt it was appropriate for him to say or do. Currently, he is being spurned by the greater American population for yet another public outburst. In his efforts to express his opinion in manners Emerson would applaud, Kanye West has gained the title of “national jackass,” and shown that there is no place for a truly self-reliant individual in today’s society.

Ralph Waldo Emerson explains that a self-reliant individual "must be a nonconformist," (Emerson 1162) and should not depend on others to set examples or be philosophical guides. Emerson declares that "imitation is suicide," (Emerson 1160) and that a self-reliant person should always make his