Hi There! I hope you’re doing great. Today, I want to talk about something that has been on my mind since a while now. Individual versus Institutional effort, but before we dive into that let us pause for our;

Weekly Inventory Check:

When was it last that you took out some time to take a series of deep breaths? Deep breaths have significant benefits including stress reduction. Despite this commonly known fact, in this fast-paced world we somehow never take a moment to breathe. So, I would like you to take a moment and take a series of deep breaths: breathe in, engage your core and enjoy being present. Inhale the goodness and exhale the bad.

The Institution vs The Individual

This year The Netherlands introduced an interesting regulation making helmets mandatory for e-moped and normal moped riders, while e-bike and normal bike riders aren’t required to wear one. This new law made me, and many others that I observed switch to an e-bike. Of course this is anecdotal, observing this changed persuaded me to reach out to someone at one of these bike companies to verify my hypothesis. As expected, they did not agree to show me their data. This incident led me to our topic for today.

I can drive electric, stop eating meat, stop flying to “help” reduce climate damage and I can even convince others to do the same. But it will unfortunately not be as effective as this, one new regulation that led people to switch to a healthier alternative in just a day; only to avoid the hassle of wearing a helmet. People tend to believe their individual effort important and impactful, while in reality quantity always outweighs quality in this regard.

In order to achieve meaningful and impactful change we need a larger quantity of people to implement that change. And there is no better way than to enlist an institution to help out.

Individuality is the essence of being human in the modern era but we forget that as a species we have always been collaborative in nature. Thus, we should leverage the power of institutes around us and hold them accountable. Bring to their attention the public opinion and ensure that they follow through on that. That would be a much more effective way to bring change for the better.

Do you agree or disagree? Shoot me an email. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Want More?

Man vs Society always has been on the top of people's mind since the birth of political thought according to Professor Tibur.

Climate Change activists talk about this as AND/AND rather than EITHER/OR and i dont think they are wrong.

Is Individualism a Good or Bad Thing? Watch this video to listen to Philosopher Julian Baggini's take on it.

Read of the Week

The WEIRDest People in the World - If you want to know about the birth of individualism, this book is a must read. I must warn you of its length, but it is worth the read. It talks about how Christianity shaped the West into becoming more individualistic by breaking their kinship bonds and developing interpersonal trust with people they don’t share blood with.

Thoughts to Leave you With

I don't think individual effort is a bad thing but I do think society overvalues individual contribution a tad more. I think it is romanticized, we love “actively” contributing and staying engaged. Institutional change is boring, reading politicians’ manifestos, writing letters to the local board, it isn’t romantic. It isn’t as eventful as a protest on the streets or a loud argument or engagement with someone who disagrees with you. I don’t want you to pick one over the other, rather work to create a balance for more effective change.