CHAPTER II

HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER IN COMMUNITY LIFE

INTERDEPENDENCE AN IMPORTANT FACT


Nothing could be freer than air. But even as we sit in our
schoolroom, whether or not we get all the pure air we need,
depends upon how the schoolhouse was built for ventilation, the
number of people who occupy the room, the care that is taken by
others to keep the room free from dust, the health and cleanliness
of those who sit in the room with us. If this dependence upon
others is true in the case of the very air we breathe, how much
more true it must be of other necessities of life that are not so
abundant.

This dependence of people upon one another for the satisfaction of
their wants is one of the most important facts about community
life. It is not merely that A and B have the SAME wants, but that
A is dependent upon B, and B upon A, for the satisfaction of their
wants, that makes their wants COMMON.

Mention the people, both inside and outside of your home, who had
a share in providing for you the food you had for breakfast or
dinner.

Mention all the workers that occur to you who have been employed
in producing the clothing you wear; the book you are reading; the
materials of which your house is built.