Just this afternoon my husband asked me if I had written a blog post recently, and I replied--no. Well, I hadn't. I explained that I don't have many new thoughts these days--which is not to say I don't have thoughts...I have many. But, I am aware that sometimes I cover the same ground.
All was well, and I was content not to have posted anything...and, then--then. I went to the grocery store. After I had done my shopping, I loaded my bags into my car, and began to return my grocery cart. Immediately next to my car was an open parking space, and on the other side of that space was another car, with two women loading up. They finished as I did, proceeded to get into their car and prepared to drive away. Just before the driver pulled her door shut, I called out to her--excuse me, this grocery cart (which she had left SMACK in the middle of the parking space between us)--are you done with it? Why, yes ma'am, she said. I then asked--did you plan to leave it right there? Yes, ma'am. Well I said--I will be happy to return it with my grocery cart, SO SOMEONE ELSE CAN PARK HERE.
WWWP?--I thought.
Remember this rant? WWWP? See, I keep thinking the same thoughts--and more than five years ago, I ranted, err--posted about this very subject. And I concluded: what's wrong with people?
This particular time, the grocery store was all of three parking spaces away from where the thoughtless shopper had parked. It really was no big walk. I shook my head as I walked both carts back to the grocery store. Amazingly, the woman was completely unfazed--and did not even thank me.
I think I must ascribe to the broken windows theory of society. The gist of this theory is that an unrepaired broken window in building invites more broken windows. Vandalism flourishes, trash accumulates, and--next thing you know--things fall apart, the center cannot hold. There is something to this theory. When you see something treated carelessly, it takes extra effort to treat it carefully. And it is so easy to imitate the careless behavior and acquiesce to the degradation.
To my daughter's consternation when she was a little girl, I would pick up trash strewn about the floors of public bathrooms. Trash invites more trash. Abandoned grocery carts invite more abandoned grocery carts. Neglect begets neglect.
A saying attributed to Gandhi is: You must be the change you wish to see in the world. I don't know if Gandhi really said that, but the idea resonates with me. Do I wish there weren't grocery carts left here and there in a busy parking lot. You bet--well, then, I have to be the one to take MINE back and sometimes even someone else's.
But, I will still mutter--WWWP?
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Photo: not mine, but from a site indicating "in the public domain."
It's been a long time since I studied philosophy, and I have no intention of trying to explain the nuances of the concept of the social contract in this post. But, given that it is the Fourth of July, it seemed like an opportune time to muse a bit on the way in which we interact and support other humans.
The essence of the social contract is as follows: "Social contract theory.... is the view that persons’ moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live. " (Source--Social Contract Theory) To form society, people agree to be governed, and to not always advance only their own selfish interests. They agree to "all just get along."
One of the most stirring speeches I ever heard was when the late congresswoman Barbara Jordan delivered the keynote address at the 1976 Democratic Convention. You can read her words here, but nothing can replace hearing that stirring sonorous voice ring out again and again as she asked: Who then will speak for the common good.
1976 seems like ages ago--far more than 3 decades. It seems like centuries ago. Barbara Jordan's call for the common good has been replaced with disciples of Ayn Rand who advocate a heartless sink-or-swim approach to human needs. These voices dominate the political discourse today.
During the Republican primaries in this election cycle, we heard various candidates asked questions about whether we have any obligation to mutual support--say, as in the concept of health insurance. In one instance, a candidate was asked a hypothetical about a young man who chose not to purchase health insurance and then becomes sick. The question was--should we (i.e. society) just let him die. What was really stunning were the loud yells from the audience crying out--YES, LET HIM DIE.
Now that the Supreme Court has determined that the Affordable Care Act is "constitutional" we see the sides lining up again. The presumed Republican nominee is vowing that "what the Supreme Court didn't do, I will do on my first day as President." How sad--that to appeal to a segment of the electorate we have a man who accomplished, while governor of a state, the very kind of affordable care approach now ensconced in what has been dubbed Obamacare. That's not a flip flop on Romney's part--it's a loss of his soul.
How did we get here? When these UNITED States were being formed, the best minds at the time began the document on which rest all our laws with--WE, THE PEOPLE.
I hear various people yelling about "freedom"--as though the definition of that word is that no one can tell anyone what or how to do anything. Freedom? I'd say that's anarchy.
Here's a little rabbit side trail--I am struck with the irony that many people who identify themselves as conservatives disdain the theory of evolution. And yet, these same folk seem perfectly content to practice social Darwinism--survival of the fittest is just fine.
OK--we're back. I ascribe to a philosophy that we are all inter-connected. We all have a responsibility to the other--we are our brother's keepers. John Donne captured the sentiment of our inter-connectedness with his famous Meditation XVII--"any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee."
Oh, and if you really want to celebrate what the Fourth of July is all about, go read Barbara Jordan's speech.
Here endeth the sermon.
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Photo from http://www.aboutflags.com/blog/
All was well, and I was content not to have posted anything...and, then--then. I went to the grocery store. After I had done my shopping, I loaded my bags into my car, and began to return my grocery cart. Immediately next to my car was an open parking space, and on the other side of that space was another car, with two women loading up. They finished as I did, proceeded to get into their car and prepared to drive away. Just before the driver pulled her door shut, I called out to her--excuse me, this grocery cart (which she had left SMACK in the middle of the parking space between us)--are you done with it? Why, yes ma'am, she said. I then asked--did you plan to leave it right there? Yes, ma'am. Well I said--I will be happy to return it with my grocery cart, SO SOMEONE ELSE CAN PARK HERE.
