Can an Individualistic Culture Take on a Group-Oriented Virus?
“There may be no other country more oriented to the individual than the US. Our laws and systems are designed to uphold individual rights and freedoms. We believe individuals decide for themselves, work for themselves, determine their success or failure themselves.
COVID-19 is now being ingested into that system of individualism.”
Michael Dwyer, Associated Press 2020
The protests demanding liberation from COVID-related lockdowns make so much sense to me. No, I don’t agree with them. In fact, they aggravate me. But, they make sense. That’s because they are a manifestation of our strong individualistic culture.
There may be no other country more oriented to the individual than the US. Our laws and systems are designed to uphold individual rights and freedoms. We believe individuals decide for themselves, work for themselves, determine their success or failure themselves.
COVID-19 is now being ingested into that system of individualism.
Let’s take a look at what the experts tell us about the virus. First, the virus is easily spread between individuals in close proximity, so to stop that spread, when we are in groups, we need to agree to socially-distance. Second, our healthcare system is not capable of caring for a surge in cases. They only have so many ventilators and beds. Third, we know that a person that contracts the virus doesn’t just get sick themselves, but that they can infect up to 5-6 others.
Each of these are group-oriented issues. To address them requires a group-oriented mindset. I need to see myself as a part of a group that my actions impact, not just as an individual. Of course, we have all kinds of evidence of people that are responding with a group-oriented mindset. Volunteers at food shelves, restaurants feeding the hungry without charge and perhaps topping the list, health care workers that continue to put their own lives at risk to care for others. Yet, after a few centuries of reinforcing our individualism, that individualistic mindset has become so engrained that it is difficult for many to see any connection to the group.
A protester was quoted on our local news saying, “It’s my decision. If it’s my time to die, it’s my time to die. Let me decide that.” This individualistic perspective first and foremost focuses on the impact to their individual self, leaving them unmindful of their connection to a group. If this protester could clearly see the group that she would infect and the rippling-effect groups that they would in turn infect would she be so adamant? If she could see the group of health care workers that would need to care for her and the strain it would put on them, would she be so flippant? If she could see the strain on the group system that would require more PPE, an additional bed, potentially an additional ventilator would she pause?
Our orientation to the individual is cultural. Not right or wrong…just cultural. Every group has norms that have been calibrated over time. In the work of cultural competence, we are continually reminding participants in our programs that to develop our effectiveness as we operate across difference, we need to see cultural beliefs and behaviors in a non-judgmental way as relative to that culture. We need to understand that our orientation to the individual, as in this specific instance, is a manifestation of those centuries of calibration. I may not agree with the perspective of the protester, but I understand where it comes from.
Yet, in this particular case, I do have to wonder if our calibration has taken us too far. Will our individualistic mindset be detrimental to us? Right now, a strong dose of the group mindset may be just what the doctor ordered.