An increase in technology, rather than insuring survival and allowing humanity to be good, makes desire and ambition yet more limitless, bringing with its new rights and responsibilities. Because humans are interdependent, individuals cannot act without considering others. Human beings are only somewhat individualistic in their values, ideas, and paradigms because they are shaped by their community. Most are not so independent as to risk societal disapproval and loss of power. This unwillingness to think of oneself as part of a group creates difficulty for resolving problems between the races, sexes, and classes.
Community is essential to being fully human by allowing people to help one another.
In helping the community one helps oneself, and thus public good and individual good are not contradictory but one and the same. However, individual good must not be confused with individual ego, in which the ultimate goal is power and status regardless of the damage it inflicts upon one's spirit and attempt at fulfillment. Human nature is far from simple, with good and evil in a precarious balance for power, and human consciousness in control. Because of humanity's capacity for both good and evil, men and women have only a limited ability to govern themselves. A good family background, values, and religion, may encourage but do not insure that an individual will choose to do more good and less evil, which is the best one can hope for from a flawed humanity.