Civilization is a collective effort.  Most of us live our lives without ever considering, much less appreciating, the tens of thousands of people who support us in virtually everything we do.  Switching on a light, driving a car, riding a bicycle, eating a meal, sleeping on a bed, and virtually all of our activities of daily life require the contributions of untold thousands of individuals engaged in manufacturing, services, and maintenance of infrastructure critical to our way of life.  Everyone, from the sewer worker like the Art Carney character in the classic television series The Honeymooners to the corporate executive, plays a vital role in society.

The old Verizon Wireless commercials that displayed a network of people supporting each of their customers vividly and humorously made this point.  Yet, on a more serious note, most people, businesses, and governmental agencies behave as if they are living in their own worlds, disregarding the contributions of others to their own lifestyles or continued existence.

Consider the plight of many, if not the majority of Americans in our current state of economic decline.  With many unemployed or underemployed and more still discovering that their incomes cannot keep pace with rising prices, people everywhere are losing confidence in their employers, their businesses, their governments, their families, and even themselves.  And, even those who find themselves with surplus income are deeply concerned about their financial futures.

This state of fear, in and of itself, makes it considerably less likely that we will see improvement in our job market or broader economy in the near future.  But, we needn’t live in fear.  We simply need to adjust our thinking.  And, if enough of us do so, then our reality will also change, for we create our own collective reality.

If we (and by we, I mean to include individuals, businesses, and government officials) stopped categorizing others as customers, debtors, mortgagors, or any of a litany of other tags and instead viewed them as close friends, brothers, or sisters, our entire world would change.  If a family member or close friend was going through a difficult financial period in his or her life and owed you money, you wouldn’t harass that person demanding repayment.  You’d tell him not to worry about it, or you might even forgive him his debt.

Why can’t we do the same thing in our business relationships?  If a debtor cannot afford to repay his debt according to the initial terms of his agreement with his financier, why can’t we simply change the terms?  Isn’t that exactly what we did to keep our financial institutions afloat back in the fall of 2008?  If we can do that for businesses, why not for individuals?

We the people make the rules, and we can and should, when necessitated by circumstances, change them.  The time has come for a new American Revolution, a revolution in the way we treat and relate to each other individually and, in the aggregate, as groups or entities.

We can create a kinder, fairer, better world.  We need only the collective will to do so.  Think about it!