A Nation of Individuals?

In tough times, do those of us who handled our finances responsibly have a moral obligation to bail out those of us who didn't? Are we our brother's keeper economically?

The more I think about this topic, the more I find myself pondering whether we are a nation of individuals or a collection of communities. Yes, in the United States, individualism is highly rated and independence is cherished with such zeal that one could conclude that the United States is a nation of individuals, each striving to reach his or her own goals by any means possible. I believe this attitude has resulted in making us selfish and greedy and led us to the financial crisis that the whole nation faces.

One might ask: This crisis is not the result of collective mismanagement of every individual so why is it that all of us have to suffer for the greed and mismanagement of a few who were entrusted with making important decisions and investments and failed us so miserably?

The sins of a few are always bestowed on all, whether we like it or not. If those who made wrong decisions at the very top cannot be punished, then how can society punish those who made wrong decisions at the lower levels?

There is also another question: Would punishing those at the top or at the lower levels help us resolve this crisis? I don't think so.

So let's go back to the original question: Is the U.S. made up of individuals or a community? I believe a nation should be made up of communities that are interlinked, interconnected and interrelated. In the old days when we had communities, people feared what the community would think of them, if they did anything wrong. Now no one cares. This crisis is a prime example of the interconnectedness of citizens. No one, however innocent, will be able to escape the consequences of this crisis even though none of us individually were responsible for it.

By Arun Gandhi  |  March 9, 2009; 12:15 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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