> It doesn’t sound right to me, I mean a culture can’t be so totally obsessed with the self.

One of our (the US) early political mottoes is "Don't Tread On Me" and it has a flag.

And, yes, we can be and to varying degrees, are. Which is why we can't get along with ourselves very well, much less everyone else.

We're tetchy.

Right, but that would mean the „Don’t tread on me” motto is also a type of persona assumed (like veganism) by people who like being perceived as tough and unruly because that’s respected.

(I guess „persona” would be a better word for it than „the self”.)