Interaction and interdependence with others opens a window to engage with life

An opinion piece by Brother Pat Lynch, CEO of NZ Catholic Education Office.

The instability of international financial markets over recent times has again thrown the spotlight on the global linkages that bind the world’s nations.

Equally, the on-going challenges associated with climate change provide further illustrations of the growing international connectedness being experienced by human kind.

This interdependence is forging a compelling recognition by most countries of their increasing reliance on other nation states. Additionally, this means the necessity of building bilateral alliances of one kind or another – including free trade agreements, both bilateral and multilateral.

Liberal democracies have been built on the proposition that all of their citizens have equal worth before the law and that the common good or commonwealth of all citizens is the foundational strength of such nations.

This concept can be readily traced to the Christian doctrine of individuals being personally valued and loved by God – an insight unique among the world’s religions.

While billions of people legitimately see their first responsibility is to themselves and their immediate families, a major danger affecting many individuals is their failure to realise the fundamental importance of the commonwealth notion or the common good, as others refer to it.

This concept applies at a series of levels and at best recognises that social capital is in the long run of greater importance than financial capital.

The World Wide Web is an excellent illustration of collaboration and the creation of social capital which contributes to the commonwealth of peoples.

The phenomenon shows the power of the human mind and the enterprise spirit as a widespread productive force for good. Hundreds of millions of people co-operate and strengthen their personal and collective effectiveness as a result of this wonderful tool.

While human weakness inevitably drags individuals away from the ideal of the common good, it is in the interests of every individual to respect other individuals and to be bold in making kindness, courtesy, and love of others the oil that makes for positive relationships with others.

While personal responsibility is fundamental to anyone’s life success, reaching out to help strengthen a society’s social capital is of equal importance as the nations of the world become more interdependent.

Ultimately, history and contemporary experience teach us that diversity brings strength and creativity.

It is easy to allow our innate instincts towards isolationism to outsmart the compelling need for collaboration and alliance building. Isolationism will severely weaken the gains humanity has made in the last century, whereas collaboration will enable us to face the challenges of the twenty first century.