http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/rate-of-aborted-female-fetuses-increases-in-india/article1968017/
1:
The above article is a classic case of individualistic thinking. This is to say, a case where an individual imagines his or her own good to have no relationship to the greater trends that are occurring within the milieu in which he or she lives. The individual is aware of the milieu, but at the same time does not imagine himself or herself to be a significant part of it. Here is an example of this logic at work: "Having a female child will be a financial burden for me because of dowry, etc. Also, female children don't have the earning power of men and can't carry on the family name or stick around and take care of us when we're old."
Obviously, some of these arguments are compelling in that they do secure and improve the welfare of the individual in question (assuming that he or she is able to eventually produce a male heir). What these individuals don't take into account, however, is that they are not alone in their thinking and that this same act of self-preservation is being committed at the same time by thousands and probably millions of other people who share the same concerns and cultural values.
