[drivingmenuts]

> It doesn’t sound right to me, I mean a culture can’t be so totally obsessed with the self.

One of our (the US) early political mottoes is "Don't Tread On Me" and it has a flag.

And, yes, we can be and to varying degrees, are. Which is why we can't get along with ourselves very well, much less everyone else.

We're tetchy.

[kubb]

Right, but that would mean the „Don’t tread on me” motto is also a type of persona assumed (like veganism) by people who like being perceived as tough and unruly because that’s respected.

(I guess „persona” would be a better word for it than „the self”.)