The thing is, I think you have the causality wrong. I lived in Japan and I can’t remember anyone being shamed for anything. I think individuals feel shame if th

The thing is, I think you have the causality wrong. I lived in Japan and I can’t remember anyone being shamed for anything. I think individuals feel shame if they break societal norms because they value cohesion over individualism. They don’t value cohesion over individualism because they will be shamed if they step out of line. That’s a key difference, because there are many people these days who are, for various reasons, effectively beyond shame. Simply attempting to shame people for their actions won’t improve outcomes because the same people causing the issue likely don’t care enough to feel shame. Ultimately the difference is that American society is one in which individualism is prized over all. The greatest evils are those that would in any way infringe on something that could be considered a personal liberty. And it’s only gotten worse in the last 50 years. I can’t imagine modern American society rising to meet any major challenge of the last 100 years the way we have in the past.