Thy Neighbour's Keeper

With all that has been going on in the US, it has been especially interesting to me to hear all this talk about neighbourliness.

The basic premise of these discussions have been--Who Is Your Neighbour?

For obvious reasons, the main emphasis has been on how alienated the modern day society has become.

One can very easily live on the same street for a decade and have no clue about not only what one's neighbour's names are, but also who they are. It is so quick to judge the neighbours of those who have made headlines for some of the most heinous crimes the world has witnessed, but aren't we all to blame.

We seem to have created an atmosphere which encourages isolation in the pretext of privacy. I know for a fact that I cannot tell you who all my neighbours are and I live on a cul-de-sac. Now that is a huge shame. When you think about my situation, there is no excuse whatsoever.

So what is it that prevents us from getting to know our neighbours?

They are humans just like us (even though to be honest with you, in my case, some of our guests at the cul-de-sac have been deer). Some "experts" (I honestly doubt that such a thing exists. I think that you are termed an expert because you managed to express your view to a wide audience. That is just my opinion. It is all about how far you are able to cast your net) have raised fear and even ignorance as major reasons why people have drifted away from getting to really know their neighbours.

I guess I could understand that if we are talking about people of completely different cultural backgrounds, but what happens when they are individuals with far more commonalities? What exactly drives us to get to know each other and why is it that that may not apply in our neighbourhoods?

My answer to this is quite simple.

I think that it all started with competition over picket fences, then cars and before you knew it, it mushroomed into self-centredness. This in time has bred a lack for love for one another. We seem to view each other through a competitive lens. Now I cannot completely rule out fear and ignorance, given my argument, because if you really think about it, those are necessary ingredients for self-centredness to flourish.

So there it is, with all the talk going on, I think that it is really important to start by directing these questions towards ourselves. I think that it is about time that we asked ourselves how we view society before we can understand the societal changes we are witnessing.


I Bid You Shalom,


Jacqueline