I was going to write about friendship this week, mostly due to the fact that my Air Force best friend (he currently goes by my best friend from South Korea) is coming home this week, and I'm very excited to see him and hang out with him and get into general shenanigans with him. It is going to be amazing.
However, this morning, I woke up to find that my car had been busted into while I was house-sitting, and all the contents were strewn about the front two seats. I also discovered that a bag of clothing I had saved for doing laundry was gone, and I'm feeling the need to talk about my feelings about the morning I've had. I also realize this post is two days late, but I'm more focused on the fact that I now have something to talk about.
As I've said in the past, I am a notorious cynic. I believe that everyone is out for themselves, that we are all motivated by self-interest. While this may not be true, it is what I believe. My experience in the past, in dealing with people in my personal and professional life, have led me to this conclusion, and, so far, I have not been given any sign that this is any different.
I say that I believe this. I don't have to like what I believe. In fact, it disgusts me. Why we have to be so focused on our own problems when there are people out there who suffer much worse than we do is frankly beyond me. The world is so much bigger than one person's problems. I will admit, I was very upset this morning, and I did rant for a long time about how selfish the people who took my things are. How dare these people inconvenience me so? How dare they think their problems are so big that they can take advantage of me? But I soon sat down and thought for a while. Perhaps they really are that troubled. Perhaps they are desperate for clothes. Of course, they would have to find a washing machine to wash said clothes, for they were plenty dirty from working and sweating and running and whatever other activities I get into that generate filth on my clothes. However, that isn't the point. Perhaps they really need those things more than me. I was, after all, able to replenish half of what I lost within three hours of discovering my things were gone. Not everyone has that luxury.
And then I thought about it more. Even if they thought their problems were bigger than mine, even if they really were that desperate, where does the right to steal and violate other people's space come from? In almost every species we see that has evolved into a successful species that can sustain itself, altruism is one of their founding behavior patterns. Looking out for each other propels the success of the species. Human kind routinely abandons this philosophy, calling for an "every man for himself" dogma that would theoretically destroy us. There is such a thing as being able to ask for help, and we let pride and suspicion prevent us from seeking solace in our fellow human. We get in the way of ourselves, and so we fail our altruistic instinct, falling prey to the temptation of over-analysis.
Of course, I could take this tangent so many places. I could talk about universal health care. I could talk about gay rights. I could talk about the corruption of the modern corporations. I could even talk about religion. I won't. But I will say this: Selfish impulses, however strong, will be the undoing of our infrastructure, and, in the end, desperation is only our weaknesses getting the better of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment