In this case, I’m referring to the notion that we all make minor sacrifices in our daily interactions in service of a “greater good” for everyone.
“Following the rules” would be a simplified version of what I’m talking about, I suppose. But also keeping an awareness/attitude about "How will my choices affect the people around me in this moment? “Common courtesy”, “situational awareness”, etc…
I don’t know that it’s a “new” phenomenon by any means, I just seem to have an increasing (subjective) awareness of it’s decline of late.
I feel we have been taught to ignore the social contract and compete with each other for survival instead by the increasingly capitalist structures among us.
Also, in most countries a smaller proportion of the population is ‘bought in’. Home ownership is way down. A lot of days, I kind of passively hope for collapse because the status quo is shitty. So there’s little incentive to uphold the social contract for me because there’s little hope it will result in a good outcome for me.
And this makes perfect sense and is predicted. As wealth inequality rises, social contract breaks down