This is an excerpt from a recent article by Steve Pavlina, I found it really puts the individual vs the global community mind set into context, anyone on a personal development path will at some stage find themselves in a conflict where they must choose to look after themselves or consider the effect on others and it is always a difficult decision, sometimes we must look after ourselves first before we look after others (in many cases if we do this we can look after others better) but it often leaves us with a feeling of guilt, or questioning our motives, were we just catering to our ego and not really what was best for our personal development, this article helps throw a different light on this internal conflict many of us find ourselves in...

I've only include the start of the article, if you find the introduction interesting check out the entire article here The War on Ego

The War on Ego 

The War on Ego seems to be gaining popularity in some spiritual circles. Within this context the ego is basically your identification with your physical life and all its trappings, including your name, your personal history, your career, your relationships, and your current life situation. The ego is how most people choose to identify themselves.

The War on Ego emphasizes that you don’t have to identify yourself with your ego. You can instead choose to identify yourself as a spiritual being having a temporary human experience. You could also move beyond that and identify yourself with pure oneness or consciousness, devoid of any particular individuality. With a little practice, states such as these can be experienced during meditation, but they can also arise spontaneously.

Because the egoless state of being can feel so elevated and joyful, some people choose to point fingers at the ego as the cause of all human suffering. They argue that the world would be a much better place if we could simply let go of ego identification and identify ourselves as pure God or Source energy instead… or perhaps relinquish individual identity altogether.

Although War on Ego has a positive intention behind it, in practice it’s rather misguided.

Click here to read this full article at Steve Pavlina's Site