Together we stand, divided we fall.

 

 Together we stand, divided we fall.

In situations of war or danger, the best friendships are formed. At least that is what I used to think. People who face danger often band together and most often help each other. After wars are over, it is common for folks to retain friendships and there are examples of the comrades going into business together. There are advantages to that. Although we gain from competition, we also can benefit a lot from togetherness, as long as we don’t try to cheat. We have an in-built mechanism that guides us towards belonging to a group. Groups, towns, cities, and countries are to our benefit. We pay for the benefit with some lost individuality.

I was raised by people who fought together, survived by helping each other, and thrived by working together. I was born right after the biggest war that humans ever fought. It took many years, but the spirit of togetherness gave way to the well-popularized idea of rugged individualism. Most of my adult life took place in the longest period of relative peace in the world. The generation that raised me disappeared and the new people didn’t have first-hand experience in the strength of friendship or any other form of working together. Thirty years or more after the great war people grew up on a diet of a new culture where individual winning is the coveted prize that everyone seeks. It is visible with families, churches, communities, and all aspects of life, all breaking apart.

The movies after the war were portraying famous battles of freedom-loving American soldiers, pilots, and sailors. There were movies about the great suffering of the Jewish people who sprung back up and built themselves a homeland. There was a period of glorifying the tough pioneers who fought the native population (Not here) and won a new life in the west. Seeking more heroes to talk about, movies and plays told the stories of historical figures who excelled and made self-sacrifices for the freedom of all. Women heroines started showing up as main characters. Romantic love replaced arranged marriages. Kids were now dreaming of being princes and princesses. The world went on turning.

The new humans, who mostly didn’t know war and suffering, turned their attention to the American dream. Millions were mesmerized by movies depicting glorified American suburban life that treated those nonwhite Americans as servants or savages. In that climate, stars were born. Movie stars, sports stars, rock stars, business stars, all made kids want to be stars. Working together for common good gave in to building personal fortunes in any way possible.

Soon we had an inflated cast of stars and Hollywood invented “superstars and superheroes.” Those often were fictional characters existing only in the imagination. The one sport all people took part in by default was business. People had to work to eat and competed for a good placement in our economic system. Most lost the race before it started. New industries sprung up to help individuals get closer to stardom. Sports shoes, faster bikes, machines that can mimic professional jobs, and gallons or tons of makeup to make women prettier. All that star-making material made some people millionaires and a new star arrived, the billionaires.

With billionaires came hoards of professionals to help them avoid paying taxes and for the common people, computer programs to do the same on a mass scale. I have the accounting program, but not the money to hide from the taxman. The superstars, superheroes of industry, and all other popular few found ways to siphon resources from the greater population, and the forgotten surplus people, at times entire countries full of them, worked harder to pay for luxuries they could hardly even imagine. Those benefiting from their involuntary sacrifices and poverty demanded not to see them or hear about them. I heard a friend comment: “I am sick of Social Justice.” And he was.

I am sick of social injustice and glad that nature, or God, is finally taking steps to correct it. We had our chance and now it’s happening without us. Our kids and grandkids are taking matters into their own hands. They are sick of us risking their future for a few people to get good returns on their investments in dirty energy sources. Women are taking over our political systems, intending to make a better world for their children. Essential workers are quitting and looking to unionize and get fair compensation for their risks and efforts. Their food prices went up like anyone else’s. People are refusing to work with others who may spread a deadly virus.

Tragically, the controversy about health and safety was politicized by an unbalanced but popular politician. The Right chose to ignore the problem and the Left to use all means to promote and enforce safety. I am not OK with it. Here the political Left is using the Right wing’s methods. Starve them into submission is and shouldn’t be our method. If we kill people to save people, we are not being Christian.

To me, it’s enough if we gave people a limited edition pin saying I am vaccinated. We can designate some seats in public places as Unvaccinated Sections. We can’t fix a “wrong” by doing what’s wrong ourselves. That is where I may differ from some others who come from Israel.

Humans know the benefits of togetherness but forget the power of jealousy and the need for revenge. It ruins friendships, does harm, and even kills. At this point, when we are being tested, it will serve us well to be considerate with each other, as we wish others to be with us.

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