The Ripple Effect

When I was younger, I once asked my father why it was wrong to steal from the store. After all, the store had lots of things- things that I didn’t have, and things that I really wanted. He explained, in very simple terms, one of my first lessons in economics. When things are stolen from a store, they do not simply disappear from the shelves. Eventually, they must be paid for. So when store items are stolen by a few, everyone else must pay for the stolen goods through raised prices.

I could not tell you whether this is a real business practice or not. Regardless, my father taught me an invaluable lesson about my relationship to the larger world. I began to realize that my individual actions affected not only those people close to me, but also those people whom I had never met. If my actions were a pebble thrown into a pond, the effects of my actions would be the endless series of ripples that spread long after the pebble had sunk. My one action could extend far beyond my reach and my control.

In the book the Middle Passage by Charles Johnson, and in our general studies of the Middle Passage, this same idea of individual actions impinging on the wellness of the larger community can be observed. In retrospect, we are able to see how each person choosing to contribute to the slave trade assisted in the expansion and preservation of the entire system. Today, in our local communities, in our states, and in our nation, it may be difficult to perceive firsthand how we as individuals help to balance (or unbalance) the greater whole. Yet, it remains true that this enormous power is vested in each of us. In our local communities, we obey laws so that we can live together safely and happily. Imagine what would happen if everyone wanted to drive 70 mph in residential areas. How would our children play outside? Would we even bother to keep our yards aesthetically pleasing?

It is clear, through the aforesaid examples and by many others, that no action is isolated. No matter how insignificant we may believe ourselves to be, each of us is an active participant in a community. Our ability to moderate our own individual needs and desires with our civic and social responsibilities, therefore, is directly related to the wellness and sustenance of a larger whole.