Serious, important decisions are made not through democratic discussion or participation, but through negotiation between the relevant groups based on expertise, interest and the ability to exercise power. I would argue that the Western individual acts first as a group member. As a result, they, we, exist primarily as a function, not as an individual. We are rewarded in our hierarchical meritocracies for our success as an integrated function. We know that real expressions of individualism are not only discouraged but punished. The active, outspoken citizen is unlikely to have a successful professional career.
[John Ralston Saul; The Unconscious Civilization]
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