I think in the US at least, people increasingly have accepted the notion that it's everyone for themselves, and any sense of "us together" is absent. And when you look at our national values and what sort of policy actually gets discussed and passed, it can be difficult to disagree with that idea. We have millions of Republicans who would do anything for Trump, but won't do the most minor thing to help their fellow citizens for example. We have a government that helps businesses, but won't help regular people.

And this sort of mentality is widespread throughout society. It gives people the idea of "You don't care about me, so why should I care about you?" In a moral vacuum, maybe the effect wouldn't be so pronounced, but in reality, it becomes an engine of apathy which gradually consumes more and more of the social consciousness and destroys the threads which hold that social contract together.

My biggest aggravation are people who cut into entry lanes whilst in traffic just to get maybe ten cars ahead because their time is soooo much more important than anyone else's.

I had a much longer list of other things that I had typed out, but I cut it out. I don't want to be putting more negative out into the world than needed.

So yes, despair is constant, seeing people have so little regard for their fellow human beings. We're all sharing this world, we're all trying to exist. Though that's not to say it's all bad, there's a lot of very selfless things people do every day too. It's easier to see the negatives, but there's definitely good out there too.

I'm not witnessing this rampant disregard for the social contract. Most people pay their taxes, don't assault others, follow traffic laws, etc.

I guess there are examples like for example the mask thing during the pandemic. But we can have different opinions on what constitutes the social contract.

Maybe I believe I should only wear a mask when I'm sick. If I follow that protocol, in my mind I am still following the rules of the social contract. Someone who believes you should wear a mask 100% of the time may feel I am not following the social contract.

Some people would agree with the first and some with the second and others with something entirely different.

The real litmus test for me is the laws. The social contract isn't simply a morality / ethics thing. It's an agreement "you don't get in my way and I won't get in yours" and that's pretty much what has sparked our common laws.

I feel like I run into microcosms of this in a few online games.

Worlds like Sea of Thieves, The Division's dark zone, and Stalcraft, are built with the idea that "anything goes" - players exist in the same world, with no rule to prevent them killing each other to steal their possessions - and even some decent rewards for doing so.

I actually mostly enjoy playing those games for all the times people don't do those things. I don't despair the moments that betrayal does end up happening - mostly, I just find it wonderous and satisfying anytime we manage to dismiss that possibility and treat each other peacefully.

This could be a poor effort to correlate my interests, but one thing I think affects this issue in places like America is cars. You don't see 20 people out on the street. You see 20 cars on the street. Tinted windows, faceless metal grill. A lot of people have been burned by one poor experience with neighbors taking sidewalks or transit, and so they want to stay isolated in their own protected cabins.

I think the world really relies on chance interactions between strangers, for both parties to learn something about each other and the world - often leading people to "care more" and develop more of that social contract. The trick is, most people DO follow a social contract, but it might only be for the individuals they're familiar with and that they feel similar to. The internet has unfortunately had its ill effects too - people can choose to stay in spheres where people specifically agree with their worldview, and won't ever run into "randomized neighbors" the same way as they would walking down the street.

Yes, but from a slightly different viewpoint. Namely, people are so disenfranchised from their society on average that the idea of a social "contract" makes no sense. People are not at all represented by "their" governments, and in their righteous anger they conflate the oppression by governments with that of their people.

If you put on a crown and shout that you're better than me, I'm not going to respect your authority by default. You need to give a reason to do so, such as protections, rights, privileges, opportunities, camaraderie, etc.—or the implied or explicit threat of violence against those who disobey the law, as is the current setup. Right now, the only thing that my government does for me is wage wars in foreign lands, building ill will and corpse piles on my behalf. For many people, their government harasses them or just wants them straight-up dead.

I think that many people confuse the ill-will of governments with the avarice of their ordinary citizens [1]. It is, at best, tied to the apathy of their citizens, whom have themselves been relentlessly beaten into understandable submission.

The point I'm making is this: if people are already out to destroy you, what good is the social contract to you? Fuck them. This is the attitude that drives people not to care for others.

Now this lack of care for others is not my viewpoint! I do separate the actions of the state from the people they "represent" as much as is possible [2]. However, I'm in a position of relative comfort and privilege. I have the energy to take a fraction of a second and cool off when I start to see myself blaming humanity for things. Most people don't.

Lastly, in regards to situational awareness and common courtesy specifically...I really had to learn that, and I'm not the only one. "Do unto others as you would want done unto you" doesn't really work for me because I generally want different things than others. I have difficulties reading social cues. Even as an adult, I have to go far beyond "Do unto others..." to suss out what the right course of action is, because I typically would want something else or nothing to happen. Situational awareness and common courtesy are not inherently obvious or intuitive, and I think we do a disservice to ourselves by pretending that we don't generally learn courtesy from others.

[1] In areas where street justice is a thing, it is not at all uncommon for the public to side with non-state bullies in conducting oppression, although usually still with tacit state support.

[2] Patriots and ultranationalists do exist unfortunately. Non-state ultranationalists need to be taken to task along with their state-sponsored brethren.

The nihilistic energy of the early 2020s isn’t new but it has been front and center for awhile. I’m hoping it fades.

I just went to Japan and Korea, and seeing the difference between there and here (US) is jarring. You’d almost have to go there and spend some time immersed in it to pick up on the many ways they cooperate and help each other - from the government, to safety regulations and equipment, to the day-to-day interactions. We could really learn something from them.

This is increasingly a problem in my country (New Zealand) too, its not just the USA. It seems to be mostly a Western world thing. Going to Japan and places like that where the social contract is still upheld is very refreshing

Sure, but the rules are usually made by powerful people to support their power. And we follow them to avoid losing our jobs and becoming homeless.

We live in a mercenary society, and if you reject that you just become homeless in a mercenary society.

There might be some jobs that pay a living wage and are 100% socially positive, but there are not enough of them for most people to live their lives by social contract.

We live by corporate contract, or else we are homeless.