The world has changed a lot, so has our mentality. Nowadays nothing is more important than ourselves and it seems that only our existence is important. This tendency is called individualism.

It pains me when I think that my neighbors living next-door isn’t really interested in fraternizing with us, through my wife invited them on a number of occasions to come to our place and exchange pleasantries. It hurts me more whenever I see that my neighbor remembers me only when his family leaves for his village home during Eid and his kids (two daughters) never play with my son despite the fact that my wife has tried to break the ice by visiting their place a number of times.

It wrenches my heart the most when I observe with trepidation that passers-by are more interested in filming an incident of accident or crime instead of lending a hand to the victims. All these point at our growing ego-centrism, an attribute that stems from a sense of individualism.

Individualism is a moral stance or ideology that emphasizes the worth of the individual only. It advocates the principle that interests of the individual should achieve precedence over social groups or state. In other words, individualism creates ‘separateness’ when a person or a group of people separate themselves from others, focusing on his or her own necessities and aspirations.

The initiation of the idea of individualism can be traced back to the late classical period, when the Greek city-states were assimilated into the Hellenistic Empire. Towards the end of the 4th century BC, a new state called Hellenistic Empire was formed which was quite large. Consequently, the inhabitants got detached from each other and discussions in large assemblies became difficult.

This transition from the city-state to an empire entailed changes on both the institutional and intellectual levels that turned the attention towards securing the individual’s happiness. It created a general tendency among denizens to refrain from philosophical speculation about society and to concentrate on only one thing: how a person can secure his or her own happiness. People, later on, became relatively more self-centered and this is how the doctrine of individualism found its silent entry into society.

The past has not witnessed the extent of extremity of individualism which we see now. It is the age, when people are constantly refraining themselves from saying hello to their neighbors, working together for a greater welfare of society, having warm conversations with others and so on.

It is really distressing to see that people are so individualistic nowadays that they do not even know anything about the family living next to their houses or flats. Many people do not even dare to approach their neighbors because of an uncertainty over whether they will be treated congenially or not. This is how individualism is not only turning ourselves into egocentric people, but also giving shape to a fear for the unknown inside our minds.In a sense, the individualists of this age do not lend credence to any philosophy that requires the sacrifice of self-interest of the individual for any social cause. As a glaring reflection of such parochial mindset, we have read news about neighbors ostracizing families with corona-infected patients during the pandemic.