In with the new

A lot of the time when I have discussions with friends, families, co-workers, whoever, about the ideas of socialism, I get responses like, “that is great, but it will never work”, “no one is going to work without the motivation of profit”, “that sounds good, but it is idealistic”. At times, it feels like we are programmed to believe the worst about the human spirit. Unless there is a direct benefit to me, I am not going to waste my time. I don’t accept that. I see examples of human kindness everyday. I know that we all have a need for community, we are social beings after all. I tend to listen to the news most days on my drive to work. Lately it seems to be filled with the worst examples of human rage, but in between the stories of desperation are ones that truly show the potential of society if it was organized around human need. There are two stories in particular that I wanted to share.

First one takes place in Wyoming. There was a man in a small remote town waiting for a liver transplant. He did not have much time left to live, when he got the call that the hospital had a liver for him and he needed to be at the hospital by a certain time in order for the organ to remain vital. Problem was there happened to be a horrendous snowstorm and the hospital was 80 miles away. He had given up hope of being able to make it when the local reserve of snowplow drivers heard about his situation. They came together and decided to help this man get to the hospital. Creating a force field of snowplows around the man’s vehicle, he was able to make it the 80 miles and receive his liver transplant.

Second story takes place in the Michigan. Michigan has been hit hard by the economic downturn. A man wanting to do something in his community to help decided to create a new policy at the diner he owned. One night a week, he has a pay as much as you can, eat what you want meal. Some of his food vendors found out about this and have started to donate some of his food supply to help support the effort. When he spoke about what he was doing, one of the things he said is that people begin to feel all alone during these times. They don’t think anyone else has the financial problems they do and are embarrassed and humiliated. There is something powerful about being with a roomful of people who all are experiencing the same thing. It breaks the silence and tells you that you are not alone.

I don't share these stories with the belief that this will be the way the world will change. What I do believe is that they show the capacity of human beings to operate from a different framework, from one that is not based on the need for personal wealth, but one based on human needs.