Community Only Occurs When We Don't Compete
Scott Alpert is a psychologist practicing in Salisbury MD. Scott specializes in the treatment of health mental problems and helps people to cope with their mental illnesses. As a psychologist, Scott evaluates and treats patients through a variety of methods, most typically being psychotherapy or talk therapy. Patients usually... more
Shortages on housing, food, toilet paper, and almost everything else we can think of. A sense of community CANNOT be formed when competing against others for basic necessities. Only anger and hate against one's neighbor develops. Like a fish in a crowded fishbowl, fighting for food and oxygen, what develops is disease, violence and unhappiness. A person, as well as, a community cannot grow and stay stagnant and stuck with the focus of just acquiring bare necessities. Community growth is stalled and each person looks at the other with distrust and hatred and severe division starts to develop and takes a stronghold.
Some professions are hit hard by this environment such as psychology which goes into crisis mode and cannot really focus on the betterment of mental health when people are struggling to survive and procure basic needs. What does thrive is the government and control over a scared populate who is now basically focused on safety and security and looks at its leaders for those basic needs and is w8now to give up higher functions such as liberty, freedom, and self-actualization. Thought processes become narrowed and pinpointed as we retreat to the safety of isolation and we break from our community and things such as helping a neighbor or giving back become foreign and distant.
This is a bleak picture that I paint but unfortunately, it is our current reality. The above scenario cannot and does not lead to anything positive in our community. We must stop building the walls between us and for our sake start taking down the barriers that now separate us. If not soon, then the barriers will become almost permanent and to break them down will consist of nothing less than war. So, what does this mean? Stop looking at your neighbor as a threat to your health and safety. No more 6 feet apart, no gatherings, shut down, or limited hours in businesses. Making excuses for poor service and disrespect. Shaming for not getting the vaccine or talking out about the vaccine. Providing more resources, not less for people especially in the essentials such as housing and food.
We as a community are going in the wrong direction as a response to recent societal ills. This is only the tip of the iceberg and if we continue our separation as a community our future is bleak. We are now stuck and in a rut. If fear is the fuel then only acceptance of our limitations as humans will be the extinguisher. We cannot control nature and our politicians cannot and are not responsible for our total safety. Accept the things one has no control over and move on with life. Our current fear and separation will have more far-reaching consequences than anything nature can throw at us. Love thy neighbor more than thy self.
