Individualizing systemic problems, Victim blaming, Just-world fallacy...

We will be looking at a whole host of associated bundle of ideas associated with:

• Individualizing systemic problems (or "individualization" of structural issues) This is a very direct description used in sociology, critical theory, and social justice discussions. It refers to the tendency to reduce broad, structural/systemic issues (e.g., inequality, discrimination, workplace exploitation, housing crises) down to personal shortcomings ("just work harder," "stop complaining," "it's your own fault"). By doing so, the system itself escapes scrutiny, and collective action becomes unnecessary. This often serves to deflect criticism away from power structures, policies, or institutions.
• Victim blaming (especially when the "victims" are people harmed by the system) When someone points out a systemic injustice and gets told "that's just your personal problem" or "you're just complaining," it's frequently a subtle or overt form of victim blaming. It shifts responsibility onto the affected individual/group rather than the underlying system causing or perpetuating the harm.
• Just-world fallacy (or just-world hypothesis/belief in a just world) This is a cognitive bias where people assume the world is fundamentally fair, so bad outcomes must result from personal moral failings or poor choices ("if they're struggling, they must deserve it somehow"). It leads directly to dismissing systemic critiques: acknowledging large-scale unfairness would shatter the comforting belief that "people get what they deserve," so it's easier to personalize the issue and label complainers as whiners.
• Fundamental attribution error (combined with actor-observer bias) People tend to attribute others' negative situations to internal traits ("they're lazy/complaining/ungrateful") while explaining their own difficulties via external factors. When applied systemically, this makes it natural to blame individuals rather than situational/systemic forces.
• Neoliberal/ideological emphasis on "personal responsibility" as deflection In political and economic discourse, this often appears as an over-insistence on individual agency ("pull yourself up by your bootstraps") to shut down discussion of structural barriers. It's not always a pure psychological bias—sometimes it's a deliberate rhetorical move to protect the status quo—but it produces the exact pattern you describe.

We’ll be checking if these are acceptable responses to “make a complaint.” When a complaint points to a system-level problem, it can’t really be personalized, since the solution has to be addressed at a societal level through laws and regulations. This helps prevent a prisoner’s dilemma situation where a stable equilibrium ends up being suboptimal. It also underpins the value of contracts and laws, as there is a need for consistent, enforceable solutions.

This might end up being a debate on collection action, and game theory...maybe...