And while I mostly go along with your train of thought my emphasis would be a little bit different. The balance between social and individual goals in current western societies is a bit lopsided: The sense of individual rights and entitlement has grown out of proportion! This trend has been reinforced by our economic model, at the extremes exemplified by "Greed is good!" "Me, Me, Me!" As long as somebody else pays the price. Be it other people, other regions, other generations.
Our western societies have started to fall short of the sense of the common good, of "Gemeinsinn". The sense of the common good has fallen prey to the "Tragedy of the Commons" (Das Problem der Allmende).
And the scope to be considered is not only the family of local community. It is necessary to consider mankind and our whole precious planet.
With this I am not arguing against your point, but in favor of rebalancing a bit towards more appreciation of the common good. This is particularly true for most western societies. In other societies the rebalancing needs to go the other way.
I see your point. And you present it convincingly. And yes, we need more community spirit ("Gemeinsinn"). But it should not be forced, in my opinion. Community spirit should arise from the individual's desire for community spirit. Not because the majority (primarily the older ones) want the younger ones to be obliged to do community work for a year, for example. You can't force something good. It has to mature.
You are raising an interesting question!
And while I mostly go along with your train of thought my emphasis would be a little bit different. The balance between social and individual goals in current western societies is a bit lopsided: The sense of individual rights and entitlement has grown out of proportion! This trend has been reinforced by our economic model, at the extremes exemplified by "Greed is good!" "Me, Me, Me!" As long as somebody else pays the price. Be it other people, other regions, other generations.
Our western societies have started to fall short of the sense of the common good, of "Gemeinsinn". The sense of the common good has fallen prey to the "Tragedy of the Commons" (Das Problem der Allmende).
And the scope to be considered is not only the family of local community. It is necessary to consider mankind and our whole precious planet.
With this I am not arguing against your point, but in favor of rebalancing a bit towards more appreciation of the common good. This is particularly true for most western societies. In other societies the rebalancing needs to go the other way.
I see your point. And you present it convincingly. And yes, we need more community spirit ("Gemeinsinn"). But it should not be forced, in my opinion. Community spirit should arise from the individual's desire for community spirit. Not because the majority (primarily the older ones) want the younger ones to be obliged to do community work for a year, for example. You can't force something good. It has to mature.