"Why Does It Matter?" Part One

One of the things you'll hear me go on about a lot is doing the right thing.  You may find yourself asking, "Why does it matter?"  It's a legitimate question, and one that's worth answering.  Especially when no one else is looking, why does it matter if we do the right thing?  Why does it matter what we do?

There are a multitude of answers to this question, and a multitude of directions from which to approach it.  This question isn't something that can be wrapped up in a neat little answer and encapsulated in a single blog post.  And even after all the parts of this series have been written, I'm sure it's a topic we'll touch on again.

Let's start where our perspective starts: with ourselves.  We perceive the world with our senses, make sense of it with our brains; we are individuals.  A somewhat self-centered point of view is inevitable in even the most selfless person; since we can't put ourselves inside other people's heads, our perspective will always be based in and from our selves.  Often, being self-centered is viewed as a Bad Thing.  And, if the self-centered perspective is allowed to grow out of proportion, to take over, to squelch any thought of or care for others, it is a Bad Thing.  Pretty much anything in excess is.

I could begin the discussion with lofty ideals of caring for others before oneself--and I do hold to those ideals--but let's instead begin where we all do, centered within ourselves, and then work toward those lofty ideals.  One does not begin at the foot of the mountain and leap instantaneously to the pinnacle.  Climb with me toward the top, one step at a time.

Throughout the existence of humankind--and to be fair, even before that, among animals--different groups have adapted in different ways to the environment in which they found themselves.  People developed cultures that, in their every detail, equipped them to thrive within their niche.  The culture of a desert-dwelling people would differ greatly from the culture of people who live in lush plains.  Different cultures may seem to be rather arbitrary, but when you really look at them, when you study the details, when you consider the context in which they developed, there's an elegant, beautiful sense that emerges from even the smallest minutiae.

One consistency that developed regardless of environment was that the societal unit had an internal cohesion.  This is something of an oversimplification, of course, as "societal unit" can mean many different things.  I certainly don't mean to imply that every culture prior to our own had harmony within itself.  But, to a certain extent and to the best of existing knowledge, there certainly was at some level an internal allegiance to the larger group.

When I use the word "allegiance," I'm sure many people in the U.S. think of The Pledge of Allegiance, and think, "I have allegiance!" (And, if you say/write that word enough times--like any word--it starts to sound really funny. >.>)  For us, it's an abstract.  Pre-modern civilization, it was a matter of survival.  Being part of the group protected you from the elements, from predators, from starvation, from other cultures that were unknown factors and weren't necessarily friendly, etc.

At least in modernized cultures, the world doesn't quite work that way anymore.  We don't rely on each other quite so directly for our survival past a certain age.  We can be cut-throat and not only survive but "get ahead."  And that can look really attractive; one can begin to wonder, "why not?"

But the world isn't really so different after all.  We may not run the risk of being literally eaten by wolves if we alienate everyone around us and seek to only serve ourselves, but we will end up eaten sooner or later: if not by the wolves we've created with our callousness, then by ourselves.  People aren't meant to live like that.  It's a hollow existence riddled with misery and loneliness.  The emptiness and regret will feast.  And it's difficult to find someone who cares about and is willing to help someone who had no care or help for others.  That's not a place in which anyone wants to be, no matter how attractive it may look in the short-term.  Everyone needs help or care of some kind eventually.

The world isn't so different after all.  Despite our climate control and manicured lawns, we still rely on each other for survival.  We still rely on each other for community and support.  We still need each other to fully realize our own humanity.  Perhaps now even more than ever we need each other.

Someone I've seen referred to only as JIK II said or wrote, “Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or even what you are, rich is who you have beside you.”  Anything a person can obtain from alienating and hurting other people has little worth, especially when compared to the incomparable worth of having people who care about you.

And especially when no one else is looking, that's when it matters most what we do.  Because we know whether or not we did the right thing.  And that makes all the difference.