From ‘Me’ to ‘We’: Shifting Paradigms from Individual Rights to Collective Obligations

In the Andes, where I have spent much time in the past 20 years, the concept of “Ayni” (reciprocity) is embedded into every aspect of society. So deep in the culture that the words “my / mine” do not exist, only exist “ours.”

We often affirm and prioritize our rights as members of a dynamic, multifaceted society. We stand firm in the belief in our entitlements to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, a stance amplified by the hyper-individualistic culture that dominates Western societies. And this has also been sadly very present in the modern “healing culture,” the new age world, and the often quite distorted version of contemporary shamanism.

But another side of the coin is less attended to — obligations.

The principle of giving as much as we get connects to a sense of mutual responsibility and interconnectedness. In many traditional native cultures, rights and obligations coexisted harmoniously, creating a delicate balance of power that fostered a profound feeling of belonging and reciprocity. Each individual’s actions would inevitably influence others, creating a cycle of shared destiny.

This balancing act, where rights and obligations are two sides of a single societal coin, is significantly absent in our…