American culture prides itself on a sort of 'rugged individualism'. Those who "don't need help from others" and "make it on their own". It is not reality. To begin with, our lifestyle and society fundamentally relies on infrastructure that was built during a massive socialized undertaking - the federal highway system. So many systems, such as public education, the postal service, police and fire services, keep our total system operating.
We've been taught to deconstruct and think of things on their own, individually. Both in our environment and ourselves. We see ourselves "make it" when we land a decent job and have a little savings. We ignore the systems that made all of that possible. No one "makes it on their own" - hidden and subdued systems make all success possible.
The individual who scrimps and saves to build up a small business may want to point only to themselves but their very customer base requires all those systems in place to even be customers. Their success is indirectly related to having social safety and economic safety nets in place. We are always interconnected, it's just that the threads can often be hard to see without specifically looking for them.
The plumber relies on a solid middle class to provide a customer base that can keep them afloat. A middle class that needs access to education and college loans. A middle class that needs unemployment and healthcare coverage so that they can afford an electrician when needed.
The reality is we are all interdependent. No animal exists alone in the wild, nature is a complex web of systems that overlap, interconnect and affect one another. Our society is the same. We need to let the myth of the rugged individual die so that we can get back to being a civilized society. One that takes care of one another. Helps each other up when we fall, comforts one another when unwell, provides for one another in tough times.
What the COVID situation and crisis has shown is we've let our social and economic safety nets crumble and wither away. Small businesses are failing that should be being saved. People are struggling to secure unemployment and waiting on a small stimulus check when they should be secured in the short term so that they can stand back up when the crisis fades and has passed.
We need to learn to think holistically, in terms of systems, not individual parts and cogs but to look at the machinery as a whole. Systematic thinking means we don't wring our hands with worry about the small number of those who can and will abuse systems such as socialized healthcare or stronger unemployment or a universal basic income. Rather, we look at the contribution of the system as a whole, build in fraud protections, and reap the benefits as a society.
There will always be those few who will try to game a system or "get away" with doing less than their part. They are a part of us no matter what systems we have in place. We need to stop punishing ourselves and our brothers and sisters for the misdeeds of a handful and get back to uplifting and supporting one another. So that we can see more success, so that we can see more progress, so that we can see more growth as a society, a people, a civilization.