We need to stop pathologising “wanting to save the world”

It’s usually a well-meaning attempt to avoid burnout or delusions of grandeur, but hyperindividualism has also framed our need to help as a problem to be fixed

“Try to focus on what you can do.”

“It’s not your job to save the world.”

“You need to set healthier boundaries.”

If I had a penny for every time I’ve heard those phrases (or variations on them) from coaches, therapists, friends, articles and Instagram feeds, well — I’d have a lot of pennies.

The logic makes sense, of course. You, alone, cannot save the world. It’s also not your responsibility to be an emotional crutch for a friend or relative who doesn’t respect your needs and boundaries, and there are real, physical limitations to the amount of impact you can actually have.

But I’ve also started to suspect that something else is going on beneath the surface. Something that smells of hyperindividualism, capitalism, and maintaining the status quo.

In a nutshell — I’m wondering whether what we consider “doing too much” or “having poor boundaries” in the West* is what the majority of people across the world, or throughout history, consider to be a normal part of living in a community. Given the massive predicament we are facing at the…