the constant harping and relentless barrage of information that every major storm, landslide or flood "could have been" caused by humanity itself
yes we should be more careful and we are - and nature is much better shape than years ago - think about the massive deforestation in Pennsylvania at the turn of century, it was a barren wasteland, today it is 70% forested with millions of acres of unbroken forests
yet none of that good news is ever presented, it is always about things at the brink
The last 2 or 3 years were not a great time for the individual. The 'community' was stampeding, morality and freedom of choice went out of the window, and it didn't matter who got hurt. Everyone needed to do what they were told.
So, what I'm hearing is 'fine words' but these seem to go out of the window, when the s** appears to hit the fan.
Ultimately - this is a question of authority. Are you your own authority, or do experts (political, judicial, scientific, etc) tell you what to do?
If you think the last few years were bad for individualism, see the Salem witch trials or McCarthyism. We used to punish people with unpopular opinions by literally burning them at the stake at worst and ruining their livelihoods at best. Before that we had excommunication from the Church which was cancel culture on hypersteroids.
Nonconformity to the cultural zeitgeist is more acceptable now than it has ever been.
You'll see very quickly how the desire of the community to not think icky thoughts will happily run roughshod over the individual. Hell, SCOTUS recently signaled that it's looking to do just that.
Until covid it looked to be true yet they reached to the same tools without a second thought
But it is true in that it turns around more quickly - it only took two years to understand the absurdity of COVID measures from mandatory masking to indoor lockdowns and vaccine passports - in the past that would have taken 50 years
so yes we are in a much better place
When times are tough (as this author is unfortunately going through) your support networks are crucial. Family, friends, and (if you have it) your faith in god. This is earned however - if you have lived a miserly, unhappy life then don’t be surprised that few show up when you are in need. You need to show reciprocity and be a good brother, friend, and community member when times are good as well.
I don’t discount how hyper important the individual is - it’s extremely hard and isolating to raise your hand in class, publish a contrarian idea, start a business, ask someone on a date, be a stand up comedian, write and perform music, and all manner of things that you yourself must get the courage to do. And these actions are what move society forwards most.
There doesn’t have to be a dividing wall between the individual and the community. You grow your support network by watering it like a garden, weeding out the bad plants, protecting it from poor weather. You have that as your base upon which to build towering castles.