Stupid individualism is visible when people defend personal advantage that damages the commons they depend on

#stupidindividualism is the manufactured habit of prioritising personal gain and self-interest over collective survival. It is not simply “people being selfish” – it is a social behaviour shaped and reinforced by decades of politics and economics teaching people to see themselves as isolated consumers, competitors and brands. Forty years of #neoliberalism normalised the idea that individual choice is the highest form of freedom. The language sounds empowering: be independent, maximise your opportunities, look after yourself, compete and succeed. But underneath this is a deeper mess that has shifted our cultural – the erosion of the idea that we are connected, that we have responsibilities to each other, and that communities are something we actively build and maintain. The result is a strange contradiction, that people are encouraged to believe they are exercising freedom while making choices that reduce their own collective freedom. Choosing convenience over resilience, competition…