During times of chaos, Joe identifies two failure modes in how people think about solutions. If you only think about yourself, you’re far more prone to fear — it stays personal and overwhelming. If you only think about society and not yourself, you produce concepts that don’t work in practice. He uses communism as an example: a great collective idea that failed because no individual wanted to do the same job forever with no way to advance.
The sweet spot is holding both: “How do I help all of society? How do I help my children and my children’s children?” combined with “Does this actually work for me as an individual?” Thinking bigger than yourself calms the nervous system by depersonalizing the crisis. Thinking practically about yourself ensures the solutions are real and not just theoretical.
This dual perspective also shifts you from fear to purpose: when the question becomes “Where do I want to position society for this transition?” rather than “How do I survive this?” the entire emotional landscape changes.