We Are All Connected

Courtesy of www.theurlyouwishyouhad.com

When does community consequence trump individual freedoms? Last month I read that Octomom (remember her) was being charged with welfare fraud and I about past out. This is one of the first things I thought about when I read that a single mother, with limited income, decided to have eight babies-- at one time! While Octomom is certainly the catalyst for this story, it really is more about what I consider to be one of (if not the) greatest cultural challenge -- the feeling of entitlement! In essence, believing that we should actually have whatever we want, whenever we want it.

For those of us who grew up anytime after 1980, we were all taught (and I think strongly believe) that we SHOULD get what we want; after all that is OUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT as Americans! It sometimes feels like we have taken the idea of "individual freedom" and transformed it into "the right to be completely selfish" - which from my perspective is not exactly in the spirit of "individual freedom." Yes, I believe we should all have the opportunity to make our lives the best they can be, but where is the line between what makes me happy and what makes lives of the people around me miserable?

Octomom decided she wanted to have a brood of children, but her decision didn't just impact her or those 14 little children. Her decision now impacts me and the other hardworking, taxpaying citizens of California. Please understand I am a person that believes the state should be there to help those that have fallen on hard times and I have no problem with tax dollars going to support them because I strongly believe we are all connected. My issue is that Octomom made a conscious choice. She paid actual dollars, and a lot of them, to have children she couldn't afford. Her bad decisions, her belief that she had a right to express her "individual freedom" is now having a negative impact on her community.

I work from home. It is much more convenient for me to do my laundry or run my dishwasher during the day. Or in the summer, when the Valley is 100 degrees, I definitely want to drop my thermostat to 65 degrees. But I take a moment and think about the impact those decisions have. If everyone decided to drop their thermostats to 65 and run their A/C all day long, that is going to have a significant strain on the power grid. It would be easy for me to say, "not my problem" or "well I'm really hot" and do what I want. But the reality is the impact is far reaching, like rolling black outs! No matter how individual my choices they may have a consequence on my community as a whole and that matters because we are all connected.

Individual freedom is extremely important. We can see that now more than ever when we read about places like Venezuela, Ukraine, Sudan and Syria; the people in these countries are really fighting and dying for the "individual freedoms," we in America can sometimes take for granted. Our freedom to speak out against government, our freedom to own businesses and property, our freedom to pursue (or not) the religion of our choosing. These are the intrinsic "individual freedoms" we need to ardently protect. But I do think there has been a shift in how we in American define "individual freedom" and it is disconnecting us from our communities. At some point we have to embrace the idea that we are not only individuals, we are individuals who exist in a community - an extremely diverse community. We have to all begin to think about the decisions we make each day and at least, for a single moment, consider how it might effect someone else.