In my last blog, I wrote about Americans’ preoccupation with independence, exploring exactly what this most beloved word in our national vocabulary really means. I tried to look at some realities behind the political rhetoric of both parties.
A Declaration of Interdependence
Flipping the coin to the other side, is anyone really self-made? Although I am a religious person, I will not even get into the theological tenet that “It is He that has made us and not we ourselves.” The fact is, that whether we were created or a cosmic accident somewhere in a chain reaction of unguided natural phenomena, we are lucky if we were born with healthy limbs, eyes, ears and a brain that all function as they should. If none of those biological gifts was damaged along the way by some accident, we are all the luckier. Add to a healthy birth the blessing that every person who has achieved reasonable prosperity “on his or her own” owes a great deal to family or to whatever surrogate parents cared for them when they were helpless, as well as to teachers, to physicians or counselors, to neighbors and friends, to whoever acted as mentors or provided opportunities or encouragement and moral support.
From a political standpoint, anyone who lives in this republic which allows people to earn, accumulate and inherit wealth has a responsibility to give something back to the society that supports those rights. Perhaps by paying a bigger share of the tax load, perhaps by generous charitable contributions, perhaps by sharing time and talents, or all of the above. Like Nathan Hale, we need to re-embrace the attitude, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country”, or like John Kennedy, we need to take seriously the admonition to “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Instead, we have evolved into a mindset of entitlement: we are looking for the tax break, the government benefit or somebody to sue.
Not only will we self-destruct if we continue putting self-aggrandizement ahead of the well-being of the national and global community in which we live, but is all this hyper-individualism really making us happy? Although nobody can be truly fulfilled without “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, much fulfillment comes from warm connections with others. Although the seduction of a luxurious life is powerful, the joy that comes from loving thy neighbor as thyself is even greater.
Read this and other posts by Stephanie Debry on her website.
