The Fuel of Life 2.0: Strength in Numbers

"We are all in it together, act accordingly"

Oh the lost art of working together.

Simply put, when we hear "let's work together", I think for the most of us, we conjure up images of people lifting or pushing heavy things or building stuff. There's the occasional footage of people putting up a makeshift floodwall of sand bags, or the images we'll never forget from 9/11 where for one stretch of a few weeks, men of all color and creed, were standing on top of piles of smoldering hot rubble, giving everything they had to one another in an attempt at finding "something" together.

When people combine their efforts for a common cause, the job gets accomplished more efficiently and with a more complete outcome than if we did it on our own. Ancient, modern and everything in between, man stands stronger when man stands together.

We are reminded of this by the actions of our fellow men and women. The Greek forum (which essentially, later became what we consider our senate) that revolutionized the idea of power to the people, was a celebration of the fact that we all have something to say and we all have something to offer in the creation of the world around us. Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X were powerful, amazing "only once in a while does a person like this come along" individuals who had the power to rally people around them in the spirit of changing things. Without the support and passion of people, those men would've stood alone and they carried themselves and delivered their teachings accordingly. the Cuban Missile crisis, a moment in American history that could've resulted in absolute nuclear holocaust. As you look back to the pictures of those 13 days, you see many repeating images of president Kennedy with his brother Bobby. They're both deep in though trying to figure out how to prevent the destruction of our country and prevent a 300 year speed bump in the progression of the human race at the helm of nuclear science. Many believe that without the wise words of his brother Bobby, President Kennedy may have been led into a decision with irreparable consequences that could've started a new dark age of man. Without those two amazing minds getting together, swallowing their egos, and putting the better good of humanity first, who knows if we'd be right now. In the 70s era of the Black Panther movement, the Black Panther Party was one of the most feared organizations in the country. They stood for change and they demanded respect and fair treatment to their people, and the end of the race based structure that existed in America. Their goal was to restore pride and confidence in a people who had their entire history stripped off of their backs before they even arrived on this country's soil. The epicenter of the Black Panther Party was Oakland California. It is a little known fact that during this time period, "Hippies" from San Francisco were helping to stealthily commute Black Panthers around in their VW Busses while they were being hunted down by the authorities from the top down (see... COINTELPRO). Of course, all of the major steps that the Black Panther Party was taking, can not be credited to the actions of a few hippies in busses, but let's not forget the small actions of a few people to reach out and work together to get something profound accomplished.

One of the greatest freedoms a human can have is the freedom to be unique. The current state of our administration or the things being across the world in the name of America, have absolutely no barring on the fact that we still have the right to be who we are and no one can take that away from us. This is something we should celebrate as the element that makes us such a unique species.

I ask the question, have we celebrated this to the point that we've become a completely narcissistic society? Have we celebrated the ego and the creative, unique spirit to the point that we've forgotten that we can accomplish so much more without putting ourselves first? Even beyond that, it's almost as if there are people out there that believe they're great at everything to the point that they don't need any help, or they know that they aren't great at certain things but see it as a weakness and feel like less of a person because of it.

Maybe we're lost in the idea of strength and weakness. Today, as a man, to admit that you can't do something is a sign of weakness, and weakness is a sign that you're less of a man. Wow... that's a vicious cycle. Right now, I promise there are a few of you reading this, wondering how I can even challenge the idea and may even think I'm less of a man for thinking that such a thing should be challenged.

The fact is, and this a damned beautiful fact, we are an imperfect species. From the fragile organ system that is still trying to figure out how to adapt to the world around us, to the strengths and weaknesses I spoke of before. Each one of us has an amazing ability to do something unique, something that no one else does the same way and as a natural fact, we aren't nearly as good at other things.

But let us not forget, someone around us is good at those other things. Some of the best relationships in our lives will be with someone who sees nearly everything from a different perspective. It takes someone who may be completely wild and without boundaries, and bring them back to earth. It may also take someone who is extremely organized and driven, and take them to places they wouldn't have gone alone. An emotional person needs a logical person around and visa versa.

When we can help one another plug the certain holes in our lives and/or our personalities by using our innate abilities for good, as a people, we become a fucking unstoppable force to be reckoned with. By realizing that there are things we are great at, and at the same time, celebrating the things that others around us can do, while still selflessly offering our services with the things we can do, I believe we can move forward to places we don't think are possible.

When it comes down to it, this idea spans many aspects of our world. Ultimately, we will shed ourselves of this maniacal ego we have developed and begin seeing the man next to us as someone with something to offer rather than someone preventing us from being the ultimate man. We will finally break down these walls that we have put up between one another that should've been broken down centuries ago with the invention of the boat. When you have something to offer this world and dammit, we all do, fucking share it! When you see someone lying on the ground that needs help up, don't hesitate for a second to stick out your arm and help them up and dammit, when you're on the ground and need help up, don't be afraid to stick your arm out for help. You aren't going anywhere as a person and we aren't going anywhere as a people by bottling up our abilities and strengths and keeping them to ourselves because we are all in this together and personally, I think we should start acting accordingly.