So often in America, we live in our own insular world, in which we don’t know our neighbors because we have everything that we need right here at home. That is to say, we have the internet, we have electricity, and we have television. Similarly, the things we don’t have directly with us are readily available online, at a grocery store, or at a gas station. In other words, we don’t know our neighbor because we don’t break bread with our neighbor, because so many of us are in an urban setting, which precludes us from the necessity of drawing water from the same well, or grazing our farm animals, or gardening, and so on.
Of course, if we want to know our neighbor, we have that option, especially if they are open to being a good neighbor to us, but for the most part, we keep what we consider to be our respectful distance from one another, so that it just seems that the only time that we really get to interact with our neighbor is when we are collectively facing trouble, such as in a war which requires some degree of civic engagement, neighbor interaction, and sacrifice. So too, when we lose electricity, or there is a natural disaster, we are going to reach out to one another, not only because there are fewer things that we can avail ourselves of within our home, but also because it’s easier to be resilient when we team up, as compared to doing it all alone. Additionally, with no electricity within our residency, we have a stronger tendency to step outside our domain and interrelate with one another in cooperation and to be of mutual aid.
Indeed, those who have it good are the very same who often feel that they don’t need to reach out to their neighbor because they believe they won’t ever need them, so why do so? This signifies that, to a certain extent that the type of people who know their neighbors better are people who are in one form or another, struggling, and because of that struggle, they believe in knowing their neighbor because collectively they are able to lean on and to help one another and thereby to keep going what needs to be kept going.
So too, those that are lacking in material assets and the luxuries of the day, are the same that, because they have fewer options, are more available to be a good neighbor, because they aren’t caught up in all the toys that they possess, because what they have isn’t all that much. Additionally, people that lack the distractions of modern day accouterments are the same that seem to have more time that is available to be a people person and thus valued their neighborhoodlike friendships because it is human interaction that ultimately makes for a more satisfying life, for we are social creatures, that though we may forget, or discount, or ignore this fact, will, especially when the chips are down, remember that we truly do need our good neighbor, after all.