We need each other

But there is a boundary with “need.” It’s not an unlimited check. Unlimited checks can be abused.

“We need each other” is a phrase that I have heard over the years and I think there is a great deal of truth in it. It speaks to a few things like the incompleteness of individualism. It speaks to the importance of community. These aren’t just small items either. They have larger consequences that so many people miss and disconnect. It is shocking how someone can say “we need each other” and in the next breath completely dismiss systemic abuses as non-existent. How can you recognize the interconnectedness of people in one breath and then dismiss it in the next? Because you don’t like the issue? Because it becomes inconvenient? Because of the consequence? Because of how big is might become? Because of how it might impact you?

“We need each other.” Do you know what this starts with? Trust. This is the essential element and building block. I’m willing to argue that without it, nothing else matters. How can you build community and relationship without trust?

What exactly do we need each other for is the real question. For our survival and for thriving. The statement is a recognition that going it alone just won’t work. That rugged individualism might work, but is really, really hard and that there is an easier way — by going together. This isn’t new though. Humanity has been grouping together for thousands of years because it’s allowed humans to survive and thrive much easier.