America's Culture Problem

One of the major reasons for America’s failure to contain the pandemic has been attributed to the US’s propensity for individualism. An individualist society, as defined by sociologists, are that societies prioritize the needs of the individual over the needs of the group. People are viewed independently of one another and social behavior is directed by the attitudes or preferences of individuals. Relying or depending on others is often deemed embarrassing or shameful especially if it is as a result of an individual failure.

On the other side of the spectrum are collectivist societies like China or Mexico. Collectivist societies emphasize the needs and wants of a group over the individual. These societies revolve around what is best for a community and society. Helping others and asking for help is encouraged and viewed as essential. Having strong families and friendship groups are of the utmost importance and people may sacrifice their happiness or time for the benefit of someone else or for the good of a group.

You can trace the U.S. emphasis on the individual all the way back to its founding principles, based largely in the teachings of John Locke. However, over time, this emphasis on individual freedoms has warped and created a society that harbors perhaps both the best and the worst of humanity. 

Because the U.S. strongly encourages individual pursuits, we make for rich soil to produce the most extraordinary people. We have more innovators, billionaires, nobel prize winners, and gold medal olympians than any other country by a long shot. Why? Because we encourage the pursuit of individual passion or profit at the expense of all else. It is drilled into us as soon as we are old enough to talk -- ‘Be yourself’ ‘do what makes you happy’ ‘no dad, I’m giving up YOUR dream’. We have hundreds of types of media depicting pursuit of romantic love over family, or having a quirky passion that gets you into Harvard (because obviously that’s all it takes), or rogue cops or businessmen with hearts of gold who do things their way, beat the bad guy, AND get the girl.

 We are told over and over and over and over again that if we just pursue what we love with our whole heart everything else will fall into place. 

We are told over and over and over again to do what makes us happy and to not worry what anyone else thinks.

 We are told over and over and over and over again that even if we are the only person on our path, to keep going if it feels right for us. 

And we wonder why we have a problem now?

Although we produce more leaders and attract more talent than perhaps anywhere else in the world - this also makes for an intensely selfish society where infrastructure only barely holds itself together. A society made up of individuals pursuing whatever they want at the expense of all else only works if we assume the individuals in question retain reasonable levels of empathy and compassion. Those base levels would help us to create the infrastructures and systems needed to maintain a mostly just and healthy society. But over time, the individual selfishness won out more often, it compounded, and those traits got diluted. Over time, successful individuals become more successful, their families succeed, and all that success is deemed amazing because they are framed as ‘individual’ success stories. Poorer individuals become poorer, their families are poor, and all that poverty is framed as ‘individual’ failure stories. 

Even though we are taught immediately to prioritize ourselves over anything else, we cannot escape the fact that even the most individualistic society is held together by systems that require - not suggest - REQUIRE group cooperation. 

And so here we are, we finally hit something that individuals cannot overcome. We can only get out of this pandemic situation as a group and we are woefully unequipped to respond as one. A colleague once told me something about a client that I think applies greatly here - culture will eat strategy for breakfast any day of the week. And our culture is to look out for ourselves no matter the cost to others.

 So how do we change our culture? Should we? What would a more collectivist America even look like? The problem is that even if changing culture is the answer, it would take way more time than we have. So somehow we must find the motivation as individuals to want better for ourselves, to demand better of our country, of our groups, and of our own choices, because - in typical American fashion, no one else is going to do it for us.

*Photo is a stock photo but I love how the statue is all alone, kind of like how America feels right now in the world