You see a Key Concept, one of the most important principles according to which the world in general and the world of people operate.
These concepts are referenced throughout the Patterns series, including the Patterns for Victory series and Us or Them!. A concise summary and two or three key examples are provided at the beginning of each volume. See other key reconceptualizations.
Homo sapiens is a social species, and its ability to survive (reproduce, acquire resources) is generated not at the individual level, but at the level of cooperative communities. This ability to survive is based on mechanisms of custom, law, and the ability to self-control. It is through these instruments that a community enforces behaviors on its members that are beneficial to the community, but sometimes detrimental or "oppressive" to the individual.