November 2021

November Thought of the Month

"I believe that we all have a responsibility to give back. No one becomes successful without lots of hard work, support from others, and a little luck. Giving back creates a virtuous cycle that makes everyone more successful."

~ Ron Conway

There are a lot of cliches in this month's thought but please bear with me. Have you ever heard this: "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps"? Before the days of zippers, velcro, etc., people needed straps to pull on their boots. The fallacy of that old saying is that it's physically impossible to lift yourself even a fraction of an inch, by pulling on your footware.

I think governments, societies, and even some individuals push this kind of thinking because it absolves them of responsibility. No need to expend thought, effort, or resources on a solution. If "those people" worked hard enough, or saved more, or did the right thing, they wouldn't be in trouble. They got themselves into that mess, they can get themselves out of it.

There will be times in nearly everyone's life when hard work isn't enough. I saw a story on the news about a woman who worked full time at a clinic for the homeless. Her landlord raised the rent by $150 dollars a month and when she couldn't make the payments, evicted her. She never stopped working but she and her family are living out of their car.

In a healthy community, everyone helps when and where they can so the whole remains healthy. Much of the world seems to have forgotten that basic rule of survival, and we are beginning to see the consequences of that lack of foresight. We must all work to uplift more than ourselves, otherwise the links in the chain that is civilization will continue to weaken and shatter until everything collapses.