Thread by @polotek

Me and @operaqueenie have been talking about this a lot lately. I'm backing into this realization on my own.

The default in America in "fuck you". You have to earn the right to matter by gaining power and influence. We see this consistently reflected in our govt and policies.

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/status/1350455337120391170

I starting to understand this is at the root of the way individualism impacts our society at large. People are not taught how to value the collective citizenry. Everybody is on their own and you can only "care" about individuals.

The most recent example from just this morning. This guy is literally like "why should I care if other people are getting scammed?"

Americans are conditioned to let anything happen to each other. We shrug and call it "freedom".

https://twitter.com/TheRideshareGuy/status/1372574534113488897?s=19

We don't stop harm from happening. We don't help people. We are good at punishment after the fact. We love to fuck people up in retribution. Unless you have too much power or influence, in which case it's just "we need unity. Let's move forward".

But the default is "fuck you".

They're not even shy about it. There it is in black and white. Getting taken advantage of by others is a character flaw. Just be smarter.

This is one of many elements of American culture that breeds an environment of constant fear and mistrust.

https://twitter.com/TheRideshareGuy/status/1372588396535709696?s=19

I love the "that's just me" part. As if there aren't millions of other assholes who think exactly the same way. Individualism convinces people that they're making personal decisions rather than being part of a cultural conditioning. It's wild.

I don't think cultural conditioning is bad. It just is what it is. We can't help but be shaped by our environment. Individualism makes us try to reject that reality and pretend it's not happening to us. And it stops us from the work of being more intentional about our culture.