The "I'm-just-me" fallacy

So, what do you want me to do about it; I'm just one person?

Yep, each and every one of us (at least I hope so) is just one person. Just like the Beatles once sang, "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." This should be the oop-oop-dee-doop moment. Yes, each and every one of us is just one person, and yes, each and every large-scale problem we face is bigger than any one of us, so why do we even think that any one of us should even attempt to propose the solution? We needn't. We shouldn't.

For us moderns, though, this fallacy is a little more problematic. We simply don't do things all by ourselves. Even when we say we do (and we've been hearing more than enough about that in all the campaigning that's going on in America), we don't. Everybody gets help from someone or from some group of people, and practically everybody gives some kind of help to someone somewhere, maybe even to more than one person. We humans are social creatures and we simply don't do very well on our own. The problem is, we simply have to own up to the fact that we're not in any of this alone.

I don't know when this fear of groups came about. Americans, for example, are staunch supporters of individualism, but there are no bigger fan groupings than there (and if you don't believe me, go to a major American sporting event of any kind, any time, anywhere). So where's the problem? Why isn't it possible to get together with others and actually do something to make things better. Oh, sure, there are some of you who think that's what you do in supporting your political party or its candidate, by voting, or any number of other little non-actions that are really not collective efforts at all. Barns didn't get raised in America 150 years ago because it was up to everyone to build his own barn, and natural-catastrophe victims don't get helped because I happen to have an extra blanket around the house. No, these kinds of things get done because we join together with others to make sure they happen. Acting collectively is not a bad thing. Anything can be bad if abused, so why do we disparage the idea when what it is that we really have an issue with is the abuse of the idea?

The point is, it is never just you. You are never all on your own. You are never alone. You may think you are. It may feel like you are. But if you look, you'll find like-minded individuals who will help out. You have to go out and find them, you have to get together with them, and you have to get busy.

Yes, "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." Just admit it.