How Individualism will Destroy Us All
Of all the pandemic has taught us on how ill-prepared our culture is for a public health crisis, the illumination of our emphasis/reward for individualism vs the collective has been so severe I cannot stop thinking about this disparity and its impact on us as a nation.
In other parts of the world, the whole or the “collective” surpasses what individuals may want or even sometimes need. The belief in the strength that exists in the collective outweighs that of a singular existence is engrained into many cultures, but clearly it is not one that is readily adopted in ours. If one needed an illustration of this belief system, simply recall the early days of the pandemic and the absolute hoarding mentality that existed around toilet paper (which still dumbfounds me as this pandemic has never been a known gastrointestinal disease…and so…why? ) and other “staples” to have in one’s house. Rather than buy/consume what you need and trust in the community to support you if you needed “a spare roll” there was instead a buying frenzy that necessitated stores putting into policy (after shelves for paper products were literally BARE!) of one item per customer policy. How sad is that? Shouldn’t we be embarrassed that we have such little self control and such little concern for others having enough due to our absolute concern for the ME! ME! ME!
And yet…. we have accepted this as “just the way it is”…..
When one looks at the statistics of COVID around the world, it is hard to NOT notice the great variance that exists from country to country to country. While we in the US do not have the highest population, our numbers are atrocious. Sickening. Appalling. Embarrassing. Yes, we are #1 for COVID infections…so there’s that.…..was this what we were aiming to achieve?
The swirling thought that continues in my mind around this, trying to understand how we got to this place is this: as long as we continue to hold on to the belief that individualism surpasses the importance of the collective- we risk destruction not only for individuals but for the collective as well.
Climate change is a great example of this in action. Rather than focus on ways to transition to clean & renewable energy, prioritizing the saving of endangered/vulnerable animal populations, and finding more sustainable ways to farm & exist in our world…. there is a fight to honor/protect the rights of the individual to drive whatever regardless of energy efficiency, build however large energy sucking home one wants, hunt vulnerable species and softening it by stating you are helping whatever indigenous people to eat the meat of said animal (as if “they” need your help to hunt…because it’s not like it’s actually their way of life, but ok…) and do whatever you want vs thinking about the greater impact this has on our planet.
Are we so short sighted as a species that we cannot see our actions are directly connected to the overall health and wellbeing of our planet as a whole?
There is not one single individual on the planet, living now or in the past or in the future, who can exist without our planet, and all the diversity that exists on this beautiful planet we call home. We ALL need each other to survive, let alone thrive.
I am not impressed by your McMansion. I am not impressed by your fleet of cars that could transport a small soccer team with room to spare. I am not impressed by your expression of your “rights” to not wear a mask when it directly puts me, my family, my community at greater risk for contracting COVID. While I honor your legal right to have/obtain great wealth and things in this world, I am much more impressed with those who see the needs of the world and weigh that more heavily than the needs of the individual. We, as humans, cannot exist without each other anymore than we can without a planet. I believe in this Divine design that is all inner connected and consider it a tremendous responsibility for each of us to see the needs of our world, and stand up to meet those needs.
I want to see you all WAY into the future, and challenge all who are reading to think intentionally, mindfully, how you can grow beyond the individualistic thinking and replace it with an emphasis on what is good for the the collective, the whole….understanding it is in this space, that peace, harmony, and sustainability can exist.
So wear a mask. Not for you, but for the collective.
Limit gatherings. Not for you, but for the collective.
Get vaccinated. Not for you, but for the collective.
And wash your hands……because, well it’s gross to not wash your hands….so yeah, do that for you!
Wishing you all peace, and wellness….. now and always.
