Viral Individualism

By Anonymous / Winter 2021

The past year has been a difficult one ever since the Coronavirus pandemic took over our world. What started as a two week quarantine, turned into a year adjusting to a new world and way of living. Our country in particular was hit hard, due to a lack of government regulations and control, which led to millions of Americans losing their jobs, their loved ones, friends, and feeling of freedom and purpose. The coronavirus pandemic brought a new found stress into our lives, and brought to light many of the issues that the country has had for many years. For the past year Americans have been begging for government assistance , from healthcare, job security, stimulus checks, mask mandates, Coronavirus testing, and much more.

Coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world, yet America seems to be suffering exponentially harder than the rest. The Coronavirus began taking its toll in China, in December of 2019, and America witnessed it unfold for months. While America watched the virus spread across China, America had the opportunity to prepare properly for a potential pandemic. Why didn’t our country take action before it was too late? Why did our president at the time deny the dangers of the virus. Our country would be better off right now if our government had taken the initiative to make changes while they could, before it got to the point that it has now. “​Since the pandemic began, I have spoken with more than 100 experts in a variety of fields. I’ve learned that almost everything that went wrong with America’s response to the pandemic was predictable and preventable.” (Yong)

According to CNNs World Covid-19 tracker, America has had over 129 million positive cases of Coronavirus, as well as 500,000 deaths (CNN). Our country has had more positive cases, and deaths, than any other country in the world. Large statistics like these can be very overwhelming to see, and can lead to people feeling numb to the numbers. These statistics though are more than just numbers, these are really people who lost their lives. These are not just statistics, these are our friends, our families, our teachers, our communities.

Why did America let it get this far? Why did the government officials not want to enforce regulations in order to prevent the spread, and why were many Americans okay with seeing the statistics grow? America is known as “The land of the free”, and is run by an individualistic culture, which is further enforced by the elected officials. Our former president, in a time of crisis, mocked the pandemic. He belittled the damage that had been done, and could further be done. He refused to enforce, or even encourage, the use of facemasks. He turned what was a personal safety article of clothing, into a political stance. Trump encouraged the narrative of America being a free country, and mandating masks is taking away our freewill, which is incorrect and mask wearing saves lives. “Trump has stressed from the beginning — and repeatedly — that wearing masks is voluntary. He has declined to be photographed publicly wearing one. He also has repeatedly ridiculed Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, for using a mask.” (Blake). Trump's actions lead to the increased spread of the virus.

Our country could have made many simple changes to our lives in order to reduce the spread, “It’s not that hard: Stay at home as much as possible. Wear a mask out in public and in buildings. Wash your hands. Avoid situations where you can’t stay at least 6 feet apart. Treat workers with respect and deference who must come into contact with consumers. Limit the number of people at social gatherings.” (Roger Chesley) Our country was not able to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic, before it became as widespread as it has, due to the individualistic society that America is. People were not willing to make sacrifices for just a short amount of time, and refused to stay home or wear masks, since they simply did not want to. Individuals did not view Coronavirus as a threat to themselves because they were healthy and felt as if they would not get sick if they caught it. When people don’t see a benefit for themselves, they do not want to make sacrifices for others. Some people also just simply did not believe in the virus in the first place. Many citizens of our country did not see any harm in Trump's actions, due to the individualist nature of our country. “​We are a country that values individualism, materialism and wealth over the well-being of our neighbors” (Rob Chesler). We live in a selfish individualistic country and we’ve had to suffer because of it.

Individualism in our country led to the massive Coronavirus cases in our country, but this individualism isn’t just becoming a problem in our country, it’s been an issue throughout our history. Our country has been built on our individualistic culture, and many of the other issues caused by our culture have been brought to attention due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment and lack of healthcare have been two issues that Americans have been suffering with all throughout history, but many of the people in our country did not care since it did not directly affect them. Now though due to the consequences of the pandemic, more people are suffering this fate, and finally understand the difficulties.

Even when stay at home orders, and quarantines existed, people refused to follow. Even the police force in some areas of California publicly stated they would not be enforcing the stay at home orders as they did not believe in them. Celebrities and social media influencers constantly posted videos of themselves partying in large groups, and going out, and have continued to be praised and paid by large companies to promote their products. Social media has normalized the act of going out, and not caring for others in time of crisis. I have stopped supporting many of the influencers who I used to watch for years on Youtube as I saw them traveling for unnecessary reasons, going out without a mask, and going to large parties. This behavior in itself is extremely damaging, but it is more damaging when these people post about it on social media, to millions of young people, because then this behavior is normalized, and even praised.

The spread of Coronavirus has not only spread sickness to the people, it has resulted in many other issues. Many jobs have been lost, health coverage lost, the economy is struggling, businesses have had to close, schools are closed affecting the education of our youth, and cases of depression and anxiety have risen.

The amount of people seeking therapy in our country skyrocketed, but there are many limitations. The amount of therapists available can’t properly help the amount of people seeking help. Many people, including myself, had lost their health insurance, so they had no way of paying for therapy. Another issue was that all therapy moved to being virtual, which is hard for many people who live in an environment where they don’t feel comfortable to speak to a therapist, where family members or roommates can hear what they are speaking about, or interrupt their call.

“Lockdowns have offered some a respite from the stresses of school or work, which have made them more resilient, psychologists say. But for others, especially those who already struggled with mental health conditions or limited access to care, their fragility has been exacerbated.” (Kwai). I personally struggled a lot with my own mental health due to the pandemic, and although I knew other people were suffering, I constantly read online about people using the pandemic as a time to improve themselves and finding peace with isolation. This led to me feeling guilty for my struggles in the pandemic. If these people used the pandemic to their benefit then why am I suffering so much? I began to hide my struggles from the people around me.

This is also representative of our individualistic society, as our healthcare system does not care about the wellbeing of Americans, our system views healthcare as a business, not a way to help people. Individualistic ways of living even run within our families and households, which leads to many people feeling as if they can’t share how they’re feeling with the people around them that they see everyday, because they feel like sharing their problems make them a burden. When people express their concerns about our country, and how the state of the world has affected them, many people don’t take them seriously. Many people respond with how it’s nice to have more free time and stay home, or how other people have it worse than them so they shouldn’t be complaining. But this is completely invalidating to the people who are struggling. Although it’s important to be grateful for what you do have, and others may have it worse, that doesn’t mean your own personal struggles are not valid, and don’t deserve support. “​Young adults have experienced a number of pandemic-related consequences, such as closures of universities and loss of income, that may contribute to poor mental health.” (Nirmita Panchel) ​Americans have desperately been suffering for so long with their mental health, and it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that the country finally recognized it.

This individualism in our country has led to people feeling as if their feelings and personal issues are not valid, and should not be shared with others. We feel as if our world and our lives only revolve around yourself so we don’t care to share our problems with others since we believe that they won’t care because it does not affect them. We completely have lost our sense of community, and caring for others. From our class readings, “​But the capture of political and economic power by the corporate elites, along with the redirecting of all institutions toward the further consolidation of their power and wealth, has broken the social bonds that held the American society together. This rupture has unleashed a widespread malaise Durkheim would have recognized” (Hedges). Our country has spent years saying “We the people” and we have witnessed so many citizens being so patriotic, and proud to be an American. Yet there is no sense of community to back this up, how can someone say they are proud to be an American if they don’t even care about the American people who are suffering daily.

The accessibility to mental health resources is not a new issue in our country, but the issue has been amplified with the spread of the CoronaVirus. Healthcare in our country has always been difficult to many. I struggled myself with getting health insurance before working at Starbucks, and then got it taken away once again once I could no longer work. I then struggled for a while before finally getting on Medi-cal. Healthcare is very expensive, and for years people have been struggling to afford it. Many people get healthcare through their jobs, but once unemployment began rising, all those people lost their employee funded health benefits. During a time where people are dying due to a virus, healthcare is necessary, and should be provided for all. Healthcare should not be a luxury, especially in a time like now when there is a deadly virus spreading across the world.

The healthcare crisis is not a secret to anyone, and I think institutions and large companies should all support the people as best they can. Schools should all offer a form of healthcare, and on site healthcare services, as well as mental health resources. Many colleges do offer mental health resources, but many are underfunded in this field and students don’t feel comfortable going to their school for help. I think that mental health should be treated equally to physical health, not a secondary.

Schools should begin teaching students about the importance of mental health at a young age, and how to prioritize our health. I think during K-12 students should learn about mental health, and be provided resources for when they feel they need support. I then think all colleges should also provide these resources, and prioritize them. Schools should also provide health insurance to students who are in need of it.

Big businesses and corporations also play a huge role in this. Companies should provide healthcare to all parttime and fulltime employees, as well as mental health days. Companies should also take their employees' concerns seriously when it comes to their safety, and mental well being. A big issue I’ve read about many times this past year is employees getting in trouble for speaking out against unsafe working conditions, involding Covid. Many essential workers feel unsafe with the way their companies are handling the situation, and the measures to prevent the spread, and when they speak out they get fired or silenced.

Health insurance, and the importance of mental health, is relevant to everyone. No one knows when one day they might get physically sick, or go through a rough time and want to seek help. Certain situations are unpredictable, as well and unpreventable, which is why everyone should have the resources for when they may need them. No one saw the CoronaVirus pandemic coming, and many suffered and continue to suffer due to the lack of assistance from our country.

Many other countries have successfully handled the Coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of last year, and I believe that our country would benefit greatly from studying the way these countries live, and their cultures. One example of a successful country has been New Zealand. New Zealand had strict rules from the start, and citizens who were happy to follow these restrictions for the good of not only themselves, but their communities. They have since had one of the lowest Coronavirus rates in the world, and continue to successfully attack the small amount of cases they have had to deal with. Our country had the time to prepare for the pandemic in the same way that New Zealand did, yet we suffered a way worse fate than them.

Although the Coronavirus pandemic brought all of these issues to light, that doesn’t mean we are doomed forever. This is a chance for change, and some changes have slowly already begun. We elected a new president, Joe Biden, we have slowly begun reducing the spread of Covid, millions of Americans have begun being vaccinated, many new jobs have been opening up, the extra unemployment benefits have been extended even further, and we will be getting a third round of stimulus checks soon. Changes have begun, but we still have so far to go before we can escape the isolating nature of our individualistic society. The Coronavirus pandemic has destroyed our country, and as vaccines begin to be distributed people will forget about the struggles we faced during this time, and move on like nothing happened. But our country is going to be suffering for many years moving forward due to the damage that has been done. It is going to be challenging for our country to build itself back up, and be a successful country. Moving forward our country needs to recognize the harmful nature of individualism, and work on developing a new sense of community and kinship. If our country can finally begin viewing everyone as equal, and deserving, then we will finally be able to truly be proud to be an American, because right now there isn’t much to be proud of.

Works Cited

Blake, Aaron. “Analysis | Trump's Dumbfounding Refusal to Encourage Wearing Masks.” The Washington Post,​ WP Company, 25 June 2020.

Hedges, Chris. “American Anomie.” ​Truthdig​, 24 Sept. 2018.

Kwai, Isabella, and Elian Peltier. “'What's the Point?' Young People's Despair Deepens as Covid-19 Crisis Drags On.” ​The New York Times,​ The New York Times, 14 Feb. 2021.

Nirmita Panchal, Rabah Kamal, and Feb 2021. “The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use.” ​KFF​, 10 Feb. 2021.

Roger Chesley, Virginia Mercury October 29. “The Consequences of Rugged Individualism in a Pandemic.” ​Virginia Mercury​, 30 Oct. 2020.

“Tracking Covid-19's Global Spread.” ​CNN​, Cable News Network.

Yong, Story by Ed. “How the Pandemic Defeated America.” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media Company, 6 Aug. 2020.