Global Issues, Common Good, and Individualism

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Introduction

Modern society faces global challenges that significantly reduce life quality. For example, the environment suffers from human activity – air, water, and soil are polluted, entire species of animals and plants disappear. At the same time, people suffer from environmental degradation, a lack of resources, a gap between the rich and the poor, hunger, unemployment, and similar problems. A possible reason for the issues is that people prefer to preserve personal interests, individualism and do not act for the common good. In such a case, the cohesion and commitment of each individual to shared goals and interests seem to solve the mentioned problems. However, despite the attractive image of the concept of the common good, there are many obstacles to its implementation.

Individuals’ Role in Solving the Global Problems

People are the foundation of world society and its main force, and as members of society, they bear specific responsibility for their actions. For instance, in preserving the environment, an individual guided by moral obligations makes a choice – to send garbage for recycling and consume less. The more people choose environmental friendliness, the greater the effect. However, a person is unlikely to stop the corporation from cutting down forests for its benefit.

In other issues, such as political violence, poverty, or unemployment, individuals can do even less, as they have fewer opportunities, and complex political and economic processes are behind these problems. CEOs or business owners who hire employees can have some impact, but their resources also limit their capabilities. It is worth noting that inequality also applies to environmental issues. For instance, more affluent people can abandon non-eco-friendly meat and find an alternative, and the low-income families are happy about any products available to them. These suggestions mean that while individuals may have a responsibility, it is limited to their capabilities.

Since most people have limited opportunities and influence, the question arises of how else they can help solve global problems. According to professor Levermann (2019), the spreading requirement for individual actions in environmental matters is a shift of responsibility from governments and it should not be so intense. His assumption is reasonable as people choose the government to work in citizens’ interests and protect them in all global questions. Cohen (2021) disagrees with this approach and argues that changing people’s thinking promotes collective action and change. Strong leaders with system thinking are needed to change individuals’ views and encourage transformation (Bryson et al., 2021). However, a group of people will also have limited opportunities but still more influence and will be able to hold politicians accountable. This assumption means that to solve global problems, all forces are interconnected – leaders change people’s thinking and habits. People, in turn, require influential individuals as politicians to act, and they together contribute to change.

Sense of Common Purpose and Public Spirit vs. Private Pursuits and A Market Mentality

Addressing global issues requires major transformations that may affect everyone. There is a conflict between collectivism when people are in priority and individualism when an individual is in focus. A common goal can unite people and force them to act in a certain way by abandoning their interests. However, the number of people sharing one opinion is necessarily limited, and there is a group sharing another view. For example, one part may consider environmental degradation a more critical problem, and the other part may think about poverty. Shared goals and common good go beyond the standard requirements of fairness as it requires personal motivation and not only an external incentive, such as rights guaranteed by law (Hussain, 2018). Thus, it may be challenging to determine what is a common interest as well as its importance.

Common interests also do not guarantee equality, as they can impose a more substantial burden on one group than on the other. In particular, all people cannot make an equal contribution to solving problems – somebody will be a free rider (“Free rider problem,” 2020). Moreover, as mentioned earlier, some people can give up some interests with minor damage; for instance, wealthy people can easily find alternatives to non-eco products. At the same time, adhering only to one’s interests will exacerbate existing problems. Current market mentality, the search for the most significant benefit to the detriment of the rest led to these issues emergence. Koons (2019) argues that extreme forms of both collectivism and individualism can lead to negative consequences. Thus, it is essential to consider not extremes but to find a balance between the preservation of individuality and the common good.

The Balance between Individual Responsibility and Public Role

Given all the above arguments and assumptions, it is possible to suggest a connection and a balance between a person’s individual responsibility and the public role. People are responsible for their actions and how they influence their surroundings, defining their roles in society. In turn, the public also affects the formation of the individual. Public and personal correlate with a comparison of collectivism and individualism. Extremes of any phenomenon are not beneficial, and therefore both the public role and personal responsibility should not be to the detriment of each other and demand balance.

Conclusion

The modern world challenges humanity through global problems, and their solution depends on the people themselves. However, only individual actions are not enough to solve global issues – transformations must occur at various levels. Modifications of this magnitude require strong leaders, a change in human thinking, and cooperation for the common good. However, there are several obstacles to collaboration and establishing common interests. In particular, such actions may require people to renounce their interests, and at the same time, from different groups to varying degrees, which is unfair. The challenge humanity is facing is finding a balance to solve problems without exacerbating inequality or suppressing personal rights.

References

Bryson, J. M., Barberg, B., Crosby, B. C., & Patton, M. Q. (2021). Leading social transformations: Creating public value and advancing the common good. Journal of Change Management, 21(2), 180-202.

Cohen, S. (2021). The role of individual responsibility in the transition to environmental sustainability. Columbia Climate School.

Free rider problem. (2020). Investopedia.

Hussain, W. (2018). The common good. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Koons, R. C. (2019). Individualism vs. collectivism. Academic Questions, 32(4), 529-541. Web.

Levermann, A. (2019). Individuals can’t solve the climate crisis. Governments need to step up.The Guardian.

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