How Extreme Individualism Has Led to Community Spread of COVID 19
As I watch the spread of the Coronavirus and listen to the tension between people who strongly believe in wearing the mask and those who are frustrated by the restriction, I am reminded of my Sociology and Anthropology classes in college when I learned about the basic differences between Collectivistic cultures and Individualistic cultures. The US has one of the most extreme individualistic cultures in the world. Americans have for a long time prided themselves on their “independence.” It’s even the name of our national holiday: Independence Day. But individualism and independence at what cost?
Where does a community mindset and responsibility for the wellbeing of all come into play? While many Americans are talking about their “rights” and “freedoms” and bragging that they are not afraid of the virus, they are failing to take into consideration the vulnerable around them. Do we really feel no responsibility for the safety of the elderly, those with other health complications, and pregnant women with their unborn children at risk? You may know that you are young and healthy and would likely survive this virus and simply experience it as a bad cold. But what about the people around you? How many could be infected before someone even realizes that they have it and are contagious?
Wearing a mask in public or not wearing one has become a highly politicized issue. And while many complain that their rights are being restricted by a mask mandate or that they feel “oppressed” by wearing a mask, the infection rate continues to increase unchecked, driving the death toll up as well. Is it really such an imposition or inconvenience to wear a mask to protect the lives of others? How is wearing a simple face mask in public any different than abiding by basic traffic laws to protect other drivers and pedestrians on the road? Should we disregard speed limits, stop signs, and red lights whenever they inconvenience us as well? For the conservative crowd being so in favor of law and order, many of them seem to struggle immensely with a rather easy mandate to put a mask on before going in a store.
It also seems that the very religious citizens are having a hard time with the sacrifice of wearing a mask for the sake of their neighbors’ health and safety. Many have used the reasoning that they “trust God” and therefore don’t need to wear a mask. But how far can one take that logic? Once again, should we disregard safety guidelines when driving our cars? What about not just the safety of ourselves, but all those around us? My husband had the idea of making face masks that say “Love Thy Neighbor” on them. It is ironic that just wearing a mask is too great of a sacrifice for many to make for the good of others.
Another interesting point that my husband made was that the sanctity of unborn life that the conservative crowd holds dear in their pro-life campaign does not seem to extend to the inconvenience of making sure to wear a mask around a pregnant woman. This summer we had an outdoor meeting with my family to discuss how to stay safe and if visiting each other was still a possibility during this pandemic given my pregnancy. During the meeting my aunt stopped uninvited and unannounced and not wearing a mask to see everyone. She then proceeded to go around the circle and give everyone a hug. Before she reached me my dad interjected and told her we were discussing how to keep me safe with my pregnancy. Some women have had to face terrible decisions because they became infected with the virus while pregnant and had such bad complications that doctors advised them to end the pregnancy to preserve their own lives or risk dying along with their unborn child. That is the worst case scenario I can imagine if I were to become infected. I still have three months to go and I am counting down until the baby would at least be able to survive premature birth. Somehow despite the sanctity of human life that is often a slogan and the absolute hatred of anything related to abortion, the conservative crowd has shown limited concern for protecting the vulnerable around them, including pregnant mothers and unborn children. Even some members of my own family displayed something like annoyance at our “strict” requests that they wear masks around me as well as when they interact with their neighbors and business associates. This seemed to embarrass them and cause them irritation.
So why is there this strange disconnect between conservative values compared to the deeply held love of independence? Why do Americans more than any other nationality react like defiant teenagers with rants that can be summed up as “No one is going to tell me what I can and can’t do.” Are we really that immature as a people group? It would appear so. Ultimately, being that individualistic is self-centered and often greedy. I have heard many say that we should open everything back up and go back to business as usual for the sake of the economy. But the economic effects are only being prolonged by the failure to gain control of the pandemic. Capitalism in it’s worst form is fueling the spread of the virus. I have a friend who spent 10 days in the ICU because of COVID and she is still in the hospital and will be for at least another week. She is a cashier at a retail store and she was infected by a fellow cashier who continued to come to work sick and running a fever because of a sales competition that the store was running as an incentive. This infected cashier put the lives of her coworkers at risk to try to win a sales competition which probably included a small bonus. How can something so small be worth risking the health and safety of the people around you?
Selfishness and greed are diseases that have run rampant in our society long before the Coronavirus claimed its first victim in Asia. As a nation we have lost our sense of community. We often only think about how things affect ourselves and we tend to vote accordingly. So often we really don’t care about an issue until it impacts our own personal lives. We don’t seem to care a great deal what happens to our neighbors and we rarely even see people who are different from us as neighbors at all. The cure for this self-obsession? Compassion. Empathy. Listen to other people’s stories and try to imagine their experiences. Take time to ask yourself what you would do or how you would feel if you were someone very different from who you are and living in very different circumstances. It’s possible for a society to grow a heart. It’s possible to learn to care about other people no matter how different they may seem at first. Maybe that will be the new growth to rise out of the ashes of this plague. Maybe our society can grow more compassionate and we can rebuild a sense of community once again.
