INTERDEPENDENCE
Action, inaction and their consequences...
I sit at breakfast and consider Will Durant’s proposition that humanity moves into civilization when our needs for water and food, our survival basics, have been met, and that only surplus creates the opportunity for civilization.
All around me are objects, artifacts that are not essential as water and food are: table, chair, bowl, spoon, lights, and so forth. I turn to this meditation from Dr. Barbara Holmes at Center for Action and Contemplation. The questions posed by Dr. Holmes on our interconnectedness for survival seem so pertinent to the words from Will Durant.
How does snugness in our comforts prevents us from realizing the immense efforts that got us here? How do the efforts of countless human beings provide the artifacts of civilization that make our thriving and comforts possible?
It is no secret that we are assailed by Global Warming and that millions of our fellow inhabitants of this planet feel its effects every day in their activities. How many of those fellow human beings contribute to our daily life and its comforts and conveniences? How reasonable is it for us to turn our gaze away from drought-stricken nations, from war-torn peoples? How much of our comfort is grounded in their daily contributions to the world economy?
Just as the contributions from nations on the lower reaches of the GDP rankings touch us in ways that we ignore, those nations in the top GDP rankings contribute through culture, technology, and the manufacturing of goods to the lives of the rest. How would either of those halves make do without the other?
Similarly, in the world of politics and power, the actions of one government influence how other governments act towards its governed. How do our support or tolerance or ignorance of the doings and misdoings of governments in jurisdictions other than our own (cities, counties, states, countries) touch and influence the evolution of our own civil society?
The inspiring questions posed by Dr. Holmes are worth pondering as we forge our path in 2024 and beyond. How does the good or evil that we do to others come back to us?
Out of compassion, if not self-interest, should we not reach out to help the downtrodden, the oppressed, the indigent in our communities and beyond?
What do you think?
Truly, what we do affects every other being, and what others do affects us. I try to live lightly on the planet, so that others can have enough to live also.
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. And I am not free as long as one person of Color remains chained.”
― Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
"But first, we have to figure out who we are, how we’re going to show up, and how we’re going to work with others, our neighbors, in a communal response to crisis."
As I've noted before, I can get overwhelmed by all the pain and violence in the world (just like so many other people get overwhelmed). This short line suggests to show up in the village, not the big world necessarily , but show up where you are and make a difference there. Let that difference have its impact. Yes? Thanks for posting the article.