Interconnectedness
As I mentioned, I’ve been listening to a lot of public radio. One of the most popular topics is the global financial mess we’re in, which makes me think about how connected everything is. It’s interesting that this disaster has made it evident to everyone that this is the case, at least for this particular topic. So much so that we’re seeing multi-national collaboration on interest rate changes. This is a bit of a relief to me because there’s so much mess in our world because of people:
- trying to take short cuts
- acting like what they do has no impact on other people
- or don’t really care.
Don’t believe me? Get in your car and drive somewhere and look around at how peope around you drive. Maybe look at how you drive, but hopefully not. So many people drive like it’s a competition to win, to beat the system, rather than a cooperative venture with the other vehicles out on the road. Like any system, it runs more smoothly if everyone cooperates than it does if several people are trying to “beat the system” while everyone else is frustrated and slowed by these renegades. Maybe some readers think they ARE more important than everyone else and deserve to have the rules bent for their benefit, but maybe not so much if YOU are on a bike when one of these “me first” drivers comes by.
It’s not just on the road, either. There’s a lot of “me first” in this society. I think it stems from ignorance of the interconnectedness of things. Maybe some of us are unaware of the impact of our actions. Some of us don’t care if we negatively impact other people outside of our immediate circle. The problem is that if this attitude starts to predominate, we ALL PAY down the road. Ask anyone stuck in an ARM because they took on a risk based on recent history of others’ financial success with the approach. After all, they can always refinance if things take a turn for the worse, right? So long as the markets don’t collapse and the credit faucet doesn’t turn off. Why worry about that, because that would never happen. Besides– this is a chance to beat the system.
I guess I just wish that foresight and consideration for others were more popular in our society than they are. I know, I know. I can’t guarantee that I’m always super thoughtful and never selfish, but dang, I sure try and behave cooperatively and avoid stupid risks. Maybe more people will do the same after this fiasco? Maybe? I’m going to hope for the best.
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