Public Mindedness and Civil Mindedness in Short Stories Reflecting the Spirit of Democracy

Abstract

The notion of public mindedness and civil mindedness is the most important spirit of democracy which requires their social members to contemplate common interest along with their personal interest. Although, individual selection is ultimately made, the individual is expected to sacrifice their personal happiness for the sake of public benefits. Some short stories written by Thai writers distinctly reflected this aforementioned aspect. Those stories revealed that having public minded thinking must be associated with something beyond themselves and they should have awareness that their own actions directly affect society. Those selected short stories also revealed that modern society emphasizes individualism; live separation, struggle for resource consumption and the claiming of rights in various matters. Hence, any expressions in accordance with public mindedness / civil mindedness perpetually conflicts with traits, such as human selfishness, patron-client relationship, and extreme nationalism.