There are, furthermore, innumerable crosscurrents of ideas and programs. And what I may try to impose on him may be something unconsciously to my own advantage rather than to his advantage. I can be so envious that he is intimidated not to act to improve his own condition, and be comfortable about excelling beyond me. If everybody else had an equal resolve and acted accordingly, that is, if nobody ever injured another person by violence, adultery, theft, fraud or envy, this would be a good world for the neighbor in which to live. The very essence of the psychology of an individualist is that it is humble and modest enough to understand the real limitations of the human mind, and not beguile itself that it can diagnose disinterestedly the problems and needs of many people other than himself.
Intellectual humility is the bedrock on which individualism is founded.
An individualist must hold that other people have their own interpretation of their condition, and that they will wish to be consulted on what is to be decided which affects them, because their own interpretation of their needs may be different from, and better than, the ideas of other people. There was no insurance system to spread risks. Charity was considered to be a requisite for a good society. Charity for the Old Testament Hebrews was a nonfunded social security system. Moses legislated that corners in harvest fields and other losses in regular harvest should be left for the poor to glean for themselves.