I like the title, the article was meh.

We are a competitive, combative culture, in basically all aspects. We have major 'sportsmanship' issues as well as a lot of concentrated power, wealth, & poverty that is far worse than other developed countries. We wear the international masks for racism, classism, and war-mongering - inescapable, inexcusable, shameful identities which makes us neurotic in the need to repair.

We need to address these problems first as individuals and then as a collective. We are in such a habit of finger pointing, picking on our differences, and too often fighting toxicity with our own malevolent reaction. We are a nation that is historically addicted to dichotomy. A lot of this is what I experience on a personal level, both as I behave and with how I'm treated (I'd argue I didn't start out as an asshole, but it's still my responsibility.) I feel a personal and collective hopelessness that has been accumulating in western-civ's consciousness for longer than our country was even formed (although it capitalized on that pity).

Lastly, we have [personal & collective] control issues that stem from national fear & insecurity via popular rhetoric, social media, & economic instability (concentrated wealth, poverty, & power). We give our power to ideas of utopian systems & potential doomsday scenarios because we are so intoxicated by our own sense of power & control. We stopped seeing each other as individuals because we refuse to look at ourselves. Now all I see is the identity I was given, the fear & envy I might cause, and the perpetual hatred that I represent.