To me this just sounds like more of the same stuff our societies keep pushing: that all the problems are ones of individual responsibility, not systemic flaws. You're depressed because there's something wrong with you, not the world you live in, so fix yourself instead of trying to make the world better.
> And who is "we"?
I guess any society where >10% of the population, and growing, is on an antidepressant.
Who is "we"?
What is "our"s?
Stop pretending to speak for everyone else.
You've misinterpreted what I meant. I'm not only applying this to depressed people, but to everybody. In order to address problems, you need to start with yourself, by first understanding the problems and their causes. You can't address the problems blind.
Many people's idea of "make the world better," at some point, involves having the State do something more than it was previously doing. They're shooting themselves in the foot, because the problem is the State itself. You can't fix the State by growing it. The State must shrink. People have an unjustified trust in the State. It has been programmed into them through school and work, and it is difficult to overcome. In fact, if you confront them about it, they will aggressively defend the State using pre-programmed responses (ie, the roads).
So to make the world better, you need to get out of the Statist mindset, and start thinking as an individual. Treat the State as your enemy. It's a violent criminal gang which supports its operations via aggression and extortion. Try not paying taxes and you'll find out it's true nature.
One thing you might find is that there is quite an overlap between those who are depressed and those who are outwardly atheist, and conversely, relatively low rates of depression among the religious. Wonder why that is?
I think this simple image can explain an awful lot: https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1456172167373.jpg
Government isn't the problem, it's problems are just a reflection of sickness that infects the culture of its citizens.
W all bear collective responsibility for that sickness and that's what needs fixing, that's how the world is made better.
The problem is that government steals wealth through intimidation and violence, and then uses it for whatever purposes it sees fit.
The culture is sick because it sees theft as acceptable if they benefit from the theft. They overlook that theft is inherently immoral.
There is no person who knows how better to use wealth than the person who created or earned it.
"We" don't all bear responsibility for government. If you choose to be a Statist, that is not on me. You don't speak for me. Your State does not speak for me.
The world is made better when people create wealth, and people's living standards improve as a result. This happens despite the government pissing away much of that wealth.
And yes, personal responsibility is the moral way to live. There exists no right to other people's property or time.
Try Rothbardian.
My agenda is simply to be left alone.
Your agenda is to interfere in my business.
Then why are you here exploiting the infrastructure of civilization when you could be out pulling yourself up by your bootstraps where no government can touch you?