CONFLICTS DUE TO INTERDEPENDENCE

When people are so closely dependent upon one another conflicts
are likely to occur. Sometimes they are due to selfish disregard
by some persons of the rights and interests of others; but more
often they are due simply to failure to see what the real results
of a particular act may be and how it may affect other people. It
was not dreamed that the building of airplanes would affect the
price of underwear and fish, and it was only after careful
investigation that the relation between these things was
discovered. A family that is careless in the disposal of refuse
from the household and stables may unconsciously poison the wells
of neighbors half a mile away. Sometimes men oppose public
improvements, such as better roads, or a new schoolhouse, because
they see only the direct costs of the improvements, and fail to
see the more important losses to themselves and to the community
if the improvements are not made.

DANGER OF HASTY JUDGMENTS

One thing we may learn from such facts as these is the danger of
forming hasty judgments about things that happen, or conditions
that exist, or proposals that are made, in our community life.
Even those conditions or events that are apparently most simple
may be related to other conditions and events that are not at
first apparent. Wise judgment and wise action are dependent upon
the most complete knowledge obtainable.

We shall see, as we proceed with our study, how this fact of
interdependence appears in every phase of our community life.