Self-reliance is an illusion all the way down. We depend on the biosphere for food, on thousands of people for electricity, on garbage collectors for sanitation. Transaction hides this interdependence — the more transactional relationships become, the easier it is to not feel your reliance on others, and the easier it becomes to harm them.
Joe draws a direct line: if you relied on trees for your food directly, you wouldn’t poison them. The more removed you get from that direct dependence, the easier pollution becomes. The same applies to human relationships — the more self-reliant you believe yourself to be, the easier it is to say “the algorithm says these people shouldn’t get healthcare.” Joe goes further: “I’ve never met somebody who’s hurt a lot of folks who doesn’t feel like it’s all on them, that they have to do it.”
This extends to economics — a strong middle class makes everyone wealthier, but the self-reliance illusion enables wealth accumulation on the backs of a shrinking middle class. The pattern propagates socially: the self-reliant person looks selfish to others, reducing connection further. Even culturally, we put self-reliance on a pedestal (“radical self-reliance” at Burning Man) while simultaneously depending on communal provision.
Related Concepts
- Community health is individual health
- Selfishness is the engine of unity
- Self-reliance is a defense against helplessness