“What obligation do we have to each other?” is a question that is most like a mental tick in my mind. I don’t know precisely what it means, but I know that I often find myself wondering it. It’s kind of presumptuous: do we have any obligations to each other?  To owe a debt to other humans merely because we exist seems unfair and far-fetched. But alternatively, to think we aren’t obligated to each other in any way feels like it could be the end of societal cooperation. The implications of an obligation mean that what/who we are effects the other.

So perhaps it’s a question of acknowledgment. To acknowledge our connection is to know that what I believe about you (and myself) in turn will effect you. And vice versa. Our connection is easily seen when it is frayed, like it seems to be nationally, now. My obligation to you is to see how we are connected and know that how I live my life, in small ways, shapes the way you may live yours, or your descendants may live theirs.