I'd disagree with the "just" part. We are not just individuals, but we are individuals. Obviously the phrase "personal responsibility" is often used to deflect criticisms about society, but I think there are a lot of good things I think could reasonably be categorized under "personal responsibility".
If you replace the phrase "personal responsibility" with "self-care", I find it more palatable, and I think the two concepts have a lot of overlap. I could get behind the attitude of "I'll take care of me for you, and you take care of you for me" but applied to society as a whole. Or, to think of it another way, if I want something in society to change, I'll be able to help make that change more effectively if I'm able to take care of myself and have the ability to achieve my own goals.
Another thing I was thinking about recently was the idea of "cleaning up your own house before you criticize the world", or however that gets phrased. I think that, in the general sense of "you should never criticize anything until your own life is 100% perfect in every way" is absurd. But I think it makes some sense when applied to one issue at a time, e.g. "You should be careful about haranguing other people about their racism until you're sure you're able to manage your own racist tendencies."
I'd disagree with the "just" part. We are not just individuals, but we are individuals. Obviously the phrase "personal responsibility" is often used to deflect criticisms about society, but I think there are a lot of good things I think could reasonably be categorized under "personal responsibility".
If you replace the phrase "personal responsibility" with "self-care", I find it more palatable, and I think the two concepts have a lot of overlap. I could get behind the attitude of "I'll take care of me for you, and you take care of you for me" but applied to society as a whole. Or, to think of it another way, if I want something in society to change, I'll be able to help make that change more effectively if I'm able to take care of myself and have the ability to achieve my own goals.
Another thing I was thinking about recently was the idea of "cleaning up your own house before you criticize the world", or however that gets phrased. I think that, in the general sense of "you should never criticize anything until your own life is 100% perfect in every way" is absurd. But I think it makes some sense when applied to one issue at a time, e.g. "You should be careful about haranguing other people about their racism until you're sure you're able to manage your own racist tendencies."