Making Everything Alright
If you read the news, there is a good chance you have felt the need to somehow make everything alright. It is hard not to feel defeatist with the ongoing wars, people advocating for more guns, states banning books you likely read while growing up, the removal of inherently divisive concepts from curriculum, and the federal government taking rights away from women. Although the news generally focuses on the negative in society, in some sense it is starting to feel like it cannot get any worse. And yet, somehow it continually does.
I would argue that many of these extreme positions being pushed come from individuals feeling that they only support self-indulgent self-interests, and to hell with anyone who promotes a positive good for the collective society. Instead of thinking about what your neighbor might think, or even want for their life, the focus has shifted to how much individuals can benefit themselves before they die. The consequences from this mindset shift include devastation to our natural environment, global warming, freshwater depletion, scarcity of resources, pollution, and poor living conditions for those caught up in the supply chain.
This “focus on my needs” attitude might stem from the rampant commercialism consuming our communities. Manufacturers realize that they can sell more products if they cater to the every whim of their customers. You want that in red? Sure! Delivered tomorrow? No problem! Don’t want to pay a living wage to the people in the sweatshop making it? Don’t worry about it! Unfortunately, we have a global economy, and what one individual chooses naturally affects individuals elsewhere on the planet, not to mention other living creatures.
To combat this shifting mindset, we need to start focusing on the global good of our decisions. Asking ourselves if this action benefits or hurts others is the first step. This applies in every step of the purchasing chain, and to the manufacturers involved. In many cases, this should result in a decision not to buy the product in the first place. Or in some cases, not to sell the product in the first place. How much of what we purchased in the last year is something we really needed? It’s hard to admit, but we could live comfortably without a large portion of what we purchase. And for those items needed, how were the workers treated? When they went home at the end of the day to see their families, did we help them increase their standard of living, or repress them to keep the status quo? If the manufacturers stopped seeking infinite growth or unlimited shareholder value, perhaps we could all live a little better.
So in the spirt of trying to make everything alright again, there is no magic button we can push. No charity we can donate to that will have the effect we are seeking. The answer is that it is up to all of us to make things right. We each need to take action, and hold others accountable. Everything should be done in moderation. We should not let others indulge in self-interest without regard to the consequences.
Only then will we live a life of gratitude, knowing that others are enjoying the same life that we live everyday.