Examples

Individual freedom as baseline no matter what:

Donald Trump tweeted disparaging remarks about former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch during her testimony. He justified this by saying, “I have the right to speak. I have freedom of speech just like other people do” (Stimpson, 2019)

Voting based on self-interest:

“I work a lot of overtime, so I’m voting for Trump.”

RFK Jr. on vaccination as personal choice rather than a matter public health care

Higher Ed moving from public good to private good

Weaponization of pseudo facts in absence of shared facts

the “network of antifa is just as sophisticated as MS-13, as [Tren de Aragua], as ISIS, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them. They are just as dangerous.” (Kristi Noem). “because this imagined antifa is a phantom, the term becomes infinitely flexible. . . . [I]f you are accused of being part of an imaginary conspiracy, how can you prove it is a lie? Because antifa is everywhere and nowhere, anyone and everyone could be antifa” (Waldman, 2025)

Self-Help, Literature of Empowerment

“The general meaning of Self-empowerment is taking control of our own life, setting goals, and making positive choices. Basically it means that we have to understand our strengths and weaknesses, and have belief in ourselves.” (Shah 2016)