When did individualism become isolation? Success become seclusion? Has our society become so focused on individual achievements that we’ve lost touch with our sense of community? These questions are heavy, and the answers may never be found. It’s the natural law for societies to morph as they go through their cycles, locked in an infinite spiral and leaving all of us desperately grasping to the debris to keep upright. However, recently, we’ve found ourselves void of any ground to stand on while our society spirals into a deep-seated era of hyper-individualism, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Manjiri has noticed the hard shift to hyper-individualism that has taken over our society, leaving lasting routines that threaten to define the 21st century
Susan Eltell: What aspect of our society do you wish you would clean up?
Manjiri Chacharkar: The main problem in our society that I would “clean up” is hyper-individualism. I think the power of the internet has made everyone more individualistic in general, to a point where, collectively, everyone is much more self-centered. People are often only concerned with issues that directly affect them. In the US especially, you’ll find people arguing with their life over more “first world problems” which distracts us from broader issues that affect everyone. Things like climate change, gun control, minimum wage, clean water, and America’s homeless crisis have become topics that are talked about but quickly forgotten
SE: How would you associate this mindset and its implication on a societal level, such as communicating with others and building communities?
MC: I definitely think that’s specifically where it all went wrong. It started with these echo chambers of people yelling, “You don’t owe anyone anything”. People truly do not want to look inward, leading to a culture of people unwilling to communicate, compromise, sacrifice, or truly advocate for their friends, family, or loved ones without thinking, “Do I owe them this?”or “What would I gain from this?”. As humans, we physically and mentally cannot survive without human connection, so to sit here as an individual and think “I don’t owe anyone anything” while every other person on Earth echoes the same thought in their head, is inherently inhuman in my opinion. Frankly, it’s probably a civilization-ending phrase.
Being an active member of society involves taking the initiative to educate yourself on certain social and political issues that may not pertain to you personally. Have we fallen so far from civilization that we’ve failed to abide by this? Of course, one simply cannot be in twenty different places at once. This can take its toll and place internal pressure on oneself to be the “perfect spokesperson”; to assume the role many want us to play, leading to a level of activism that is, some may say, less authentic. Has the over saturation of societal and political issues led to the downfall of interconnectedness?
SE: Would you say the people who briefly engage in these conversations but set them aside are being performative?
MC: I don’t want to be a complete pessimist and say nobody cares because I truly do believe people, especially our generation, are deeply concerned about these issues. However, because most political discourse begins online now, everything has inherently become performative. Folks will engage fervently in whatever the new “online movement” is, such as BLM or #MeToo or even conversations about Palestine, and then quickly forget and move on to the next. Everything feels like it’s for show even though, for most people, it’s not intentional. People have forgotten that online advocacy isn’t enough and they’ll draw the line at legitimate action.
SE: Why do you think people hold back from turning online advocacy into legitimate action?
MC: I think it’s for a number of reasons. Younger people are concerned for their careers or of cancel culture. Both are valid concerns, however, it’s also important to remember that we are the future employers, CEOs, etc. By beginning to speak out, taking minor action, going to protests, starting labor unions, and encouraging people to vote in their local elections to try to tackle these “bread and butter” issues, we could build a foundation for a future where we wouldn’t be scared into silence.
SE: Would you say the fear of speaking out is more prevalent now than in previous years? And if so, why is that the case for this new generation entering the workforce?
MC: Yeah, I definitely think there is much more fear. Politics have become black and white, right or left. Social media has made everyone so concerned with how their opinions represent them, and no one wants to have their own thoughts and opinions. The fear of being wrong holds us back from creative thinking or wanting to state a new or unpopular opinion. If we were more focused on having opinions on individual policies rather than assigning them “left” or “right”, I believe we’d be less fearful and more open to discussion between the “two sides.”
SE: Would you say we’ve reached a point where this mindset is so ingrained in our society that clean up isn’t even an option anymore, or is in some ways being actively restricted?
MC: I understand that people are tired and hopeless. I feel that way at times. But nothing is impossible. Many want change, but politically, we need to focus on vital issues: funding poorer neighborhoods and schools, establishing community gardens, and tackling survival-based concerns. I always think about the Black Panther Party and how they rallied minorities and low-income white folks for basic rights. They were painted as dangerous but were in fact the opposite. I benefited from the Free Lunch Program from kindergarten to high school, and only learned last year that the Black Panther Party started it. I believe in returning to a collectivist mindset and working within communities to create change at a base level before tackling broader issues. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs comes to mind: once physiological and safety needs are met, we can focus on deeper concerns. By then, theoretically, there’d be less to fix.
SE: If you could give one final message to the readers, what would that message be?
MC: Go outside, touch some grass, and hang out at third places. I think the feeling of seeing everything online makes people feel connected in a weird way and makes them feel like they’re taking action. If people picked up a book, went to an art class, brought back book clubs, etc, then those tiny actions in their everyday life would make people less fearful to take action on a larger scale. It’d feel less lonely to fight for a labor union or to go to a protest because you would know that other people will be there, too. Reject the individualistic mindset that society is pushing on you, and remember that, as humans, we thrive on interconnectedness.