When it comes to economic stability why do we lack compassion in the US? The idea that you are responsible for your own financial success runs very deep in our culture. You see it at all levels of government policy, culture, and even among friends and family. If you are consistently unable maintain the lifestyle of your immediate friends and family you are viewed as a failure, and are assumed to be failing due to personal choices under your control. I frequently forget to remind myself that capitialism is a game of winners and losers, and in the US we love to celebrate winners. We celebrate winners even when the game isn’t fair from the start. We tend not to think about consequences for the losers, or why they lost. I’m not sure the problems of homelessness, mental health, and climate change will ever improve due the deep rooted sense of individualism and capitalism that exists in our country.