The hyper individualism we see in America is bad, both for individuals and for society as a whole.

I think a lot of Americans don’t even know that they are very individualistic (relative to people in other cultures/from other eras) and just think their way of being is the default, regular mode of existence.

But it isn’t. It’s really only pretty recently that nearly all forms of communal being have been wiped out. In the past (and still in some other cultures) people weren’t just out there flying solo, left to either sink or swim based on what they alone do, without any larger group structures they belonged to and were supported by. People had familial, tribal, religious, etc. affiliations. These were groups they essentially were born into, and existed within totally independently of anything they did. So, if you’re a total fucking moron, your boss will fire you. But your church wasn’t gonna be like “Bro you’re stupid, we can find someone more efficient than you. You’re out.” Instead, these groups were always there and you were always going to be “in” just as a result of who you are.

That sort of thing essentially has disappeared now. Families and churches obviously still exist, but aren’t quite the same. Churches simply do not hold the same social/communal role they once did, and families are now also much different. Kids moving far away, people being cut off/estranged, or just flat out functioning as a group of individuals rather than a collective, are all common things.

In my opinion, this is bad for people. A moderate individualism in which you are free to do things like dress how you want, choose your hobbies, have some freedom of movement and choice in life is great. But the extreme individualism, by which you exist functionally as a solo player with minimal (or no) support structure of any sort is horrible for people. It’s stressful, lonely, alienating, makes things feel pointless, etc.

I am a father with 4 kids. My wife and I are both super family oriented people and have worked hard to ingrain in our kids the idea that we are a family unit. We work together, we help each other, etc. When one succeeds, we all share in it a little. When one fails, we all fail a little. We’re not just 6 individuals competing to make it, we are a communal unit.

Just that idea is enough to make people think we are weird, despite this being the norm for literally every society on earth up until like 1960. I propose that we need to get back to this. Every person should have larger groups they are a sort of, which isn’t contingent on how successful they are as a person, and which they know will always be there to help them. This makes a better life for everyone involved.