In this case, I’m referring to the notion that we all make minor sacrifices in our daily interactions in service of a “greater good” for everyone.
“Following the rules” would be a simplified version of what I’m talking about, I suppose. But also keeping an awareness/attitude about "How will my choices affect the people around me in this moment? “Common courtesy”, “situational awareness”, etc…
I don’t know that it’s a “new” phenomenon by any means, I just seem to have an increasing (subjective) awareness of it’s decline of late.
I think in the US at least, people increasingly have accepted the notion that it’s everyone for themselves, and any sense of “us together” is absent. And when you look at our national values and what sort of policy actually gets discussed and passed, it can be difficult to disagree with that idea. We have millions of Republicans who would do anything for Trump, but won’t do the most minor thing to help their fellow citizens for example. We have a government that helps businesses, but won’t help regular people.
And this sort of mentality is widespread throughout society. It gives people the idea of “You don’t care about me, so why should I care about you?” In a moral vacuum, maybe the effect wouldn’t be so pronounced, but in reality, it becomes an engine of apathy which gradually consumes more and more of the social consciousness and destroys the threads which hold that social contract together.