Human Power

We Are What We Choose

Our consequential identity and future is up to us

What Matters?

In a national crisis, it is natural to question if our lifestyle choices matter. There is the choice of social distancing or not; the choice of caring or not caring. But beyond these, the lifestyle choices that can make a difference to our society’s well-being ultimately can be separated roughly into these parts: what we buy, what we sell, what we uphold, what we reject, and what we act on.

When nothing is at stake, everything being ‘peachy’, and having freedom of choice in living our own lifestyles is bar none; when there is mutual respect for our lifestyles and no impact to our freedoms of life, no disregard for preserving what we feel is ours, our property, our values, our share of which we’ve saved for ourselves and our loved ones, our lifestyle choices may seem open to no objection.

But if we become complacent, ignorant, indifferent or ill-mannered, even ill-willed, through those very same lifestyle choices, we can allow the very lifestyle we’ve enjoyed be taken for granted and changed by those (even foreign) less interested in our collective well-being, and thereby spoil for ourselves and for ages to come our enviable branded way of life. All our lifestyle choices, depending on if we do so consciously or unconsciously, can shape expected or unexpected future outcomes that affect the quality and staying power of what we keep going as a nation.

What We Buy

Products, services, food, and the like are the everyday goods we buy, but beyond these, groups, corporations, and powerful individuals have their reach in selling us their agendas. America is great at marketing and packaging all forms of messages for thought and consumption, but entities, jobs, ideas, and people cannot exist in perpetuity without also the consent (direct or indirect) from each of us.

Do we buy because we are free or we are free because of what we buy?

It has been argued before we have the power of our wallets, but we also have the power of our commitments. However irritating or inconvenient to consider more thoughtfully on our every purchase or choice of devotion, we might serendipitously discover a reason to demand better from those selling to us lest they be deservedly passed over for being undeserving of what will preserve our collective societal health.

What We Sell

Money is a pain and greaser of all ills. It pays rent, the mortgage; it buys a comfortable lifestyle, and affords solutions to many problems, and what you can sell to make money, make a reputation, make a name for oneself, makes life easier, no doubt. If what we demand from others selling to us is of high quality, even safe, personally beneficial, and bears no complicity in the breaking of our fundamental principles, we arguably would consider the same before selling to others as well. However, based on morals alone would be very subjective, so rather we might consider it based on the natural order of consequences if it has the power to disrupt our futures by choosing to sell without regard for our national self-interests. For one, if we sell goods and services that are substandard merely for profits, we perpetuate the production of cheap inadequacy and those players exist in longevity. If we sell products from places that are known to actively undermine our own country, we indirectly sustain a chain of financial, business, political, and contractual ties that are not for our eventual collective benefit and cannot be easily broken until what is prized (maybe our integrity, our intellectual property, our physical properties, our future opportunities, etc.) are sucked out from underneath us. Moreover, if we sell an idea, a story, or a message, we might question if it harms our vulnerable youth or provokes only the desired short-term actions from the broad-minded public instead of avoiding misuse of their trust and tolerance.

What We Uphold

Children of Men was a poignant movie for me that posed a question about generational purpose. It would be unnerving to wake up one day in a world that could no longer naturally bear any children, as it raised questions for me of ultimate purpose beyond mere blind ambitions. Though not all perceive nor choose their role in bearing or raising children, our individual contributions to society are similarly unique wisdoms to be passed on through our teaching, our writing, our life’s example, and our advocates. If we have no greater national principles to uphold other than our personal well-being, it may be shocking to us at a later point if the general well-being of other Americans living with us were overlooked, slowly ruined, and by our interconnectedness brought down our own well-being as well.

What We Reject

We should be naturally protective of our treasures, national and individual. We absolutely would rebuff any overt advances to damage, harm or destroy our properties, our families, our loved ones, and our wealth. And we sometimes forget or ignore that those same threats made not to ourselves, but to any of our fellow Americans, is a common threat to all, and to each of our families. When we don’t outright denounce any such specific acts or practices, we potentially allow them to spread or gain traction unwittingly. Speaking out against something not based merely on emotion but also on rational thought is elucidating to critics and supporters alike. We may never rid of, say, for example, all hate crimes nor all discrimination,

but by not letting it pass us by without outcry, we build consensus around issues that we wish to highlight as perishable.

What We Act On

Action is the greatest evidence of belief. What we determine to be right and worthy of time, attention, and creative effort builds on our desire to see a change for the better. Acts of kindness and charity are uplifting, but collective action can garner greater, lasting reforms. Getting involved in our local communities; writing letters to our local and state politicians; convincing others of your conclusions can bring to light the issues that should not be discounted nor neglected for our society’s and our nation’s sake especially during a pandemic in which many of our values and principles will become tested.

It’s not only wise, but essential to ask questions about where we are going and if our everyday activities in our lifestyles may play a contributive part in creating the realities we want in our national and societal futures. We can also learn from companies who have already taken a lead in their perceived parts. We may not always agree on the minute details, nor on the path, but we can agree that when our national interests are at stake, when we put our differences aside and band together to address common threats, unite in our collective strength and durability, then we become all that we’ve chosen.

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