Our culture is dominated by an ethos of individualism. It is our core cultural value: we are probably the most individualistic culture in human history.1 Of course, there is much that is good about individualism: the value it gives to individual lives, the importance of individual rights, individual choice and opportunity. It emphasizes freedom, and freedom is one of the gifts of God. But individualism as a core value leads to a way of seeing life that obscures the enormous effect of social systems on the lives of people.
