It is okay to be afraid. Human beings have been in fear of one thing or another since we crawled from the muck, and began wearing monocles. There is no shame in being afraid. It is not a weakness to have a fear, nor is it a failing to be afraid. It makes you human.
Of course, it is what we fear that shapes society as a whole. A person can be afraid of something that may incur bodily harm, but what does a society fear? It can be anything, really: a change to its way of life, cultural contamination for example, eradication, dissidents within its own ranks, the Other, there are many things a society fears, and so it builds these bulwarks against attack. It codifies behavior into its system, outlining what is and is not acceptable.
In this, people find comfort. It makes the society appear stronger, more resilient. They begin to rely less on each other, and more on the system to keep them “safe.” As a result, they begin to drift apart, losing empathy, kindness, compassion, and self-awareness, because the system has taken care of everything for them.
Most people don’t realize that the entire system sits upon nothing. There is no foundation, no floor. We are all, as a whole, three meals away from utter chaos. All of the atomic warheads, military machines, uniformed peace officers, and self-appointed arbiters of moral justice combined still equal nothing when faced with that level of realization.
The system has convinced you there is a firm foundation underneath. There isn’t, my friend. You’re standing on nothing. NOTHING. The only thing preventing you from falling into the abyss is that you are linked arm in arm with every human being on this planet. All of us, together, are holding it all up. I have you, you have me.
So many people have been convinced that this is not true, that we are separate from each other, and so we war with one other, hate one other, kill one another, and we don’t even realize that what we’re doing is trying to commit collective suicide. So many people have been divided, their eyes covered and ears deafened by promises that they’re masters of their own fate.
They are not. You are not. Your very existence depends upon the person next to you, whether you know it or not. Your feet hang over empty space. If you let go, if they let go, you all fall. We all fall.
I ask that you hold fast to the person next to you, and make them promise not to let go. We are all here only because we depend upon each other, because we have each other. We are not separate, we are NOT separate. We rely on each other to survive. What happens to a man ten meters or ten thousand miles away affects you more than you realize.
I’ve got you, and someone has got me. We all hold fast to one another. I must reiterate this, because it is important you understand that you are alive because another human being looked upon you with compassion and knew that they had to keep you from falling.
I am concerned that there are people who are more than willing to let go, because they do not believe they need anyone, that they are somehow being held up by their own will power, and they’re not. There is no such thing as a self-made man. That is a fantasy of power, and it does not exist in the real world.
So please don’t let go, not of me, not of your neighbor, hold fast to them. Let them know you’ve got them, and that they are safe with you, that they are loved. We are in this together.
That is the only way we will survive.