Critical Perspectives and Reflections

A person is a person through other people . - Michael Schur I don’t know if up till the last little while I’ve been inattentive to the developments in the zeitgeist, but recently I seem to be coming upon more and more chatter, radio interviews, articles in the culture section of the various magazines and newspapers I read, extolling the importance for the nurturing of our individual selves. You know the topics, “self” sufficiency, regard for “oneself”, love of “self”, depending on “oneself”, paying no attention to anyone who is not four-square 100% on “our” side, “self” care etc., etc. Of course, anyone who engages with Face Book knows what I’m taking about, the messages are everywhere. The individual or the ego, in these messages is seen as supreme. There is nary a word regarding notions of social wellbeing, the public good or the necessity of forging and maintaining social relationships. Perhaps this is not so surprising given the number of YouTube videos available on social media an...