The farmer who picked your coffee beans (technically seed fruit).
The roasters who roasted your coffee.
The truck driver who drove the coffee to port.
The crew of the boat that shipped the coffee.
The truck driver who drove the coffee to the warehouse.
The warehouse staff that ground the coffee, packaged it, and kept it safe, clean and dry.
The truck driver who drove the coffee to the store.
The staff of the grocery store that sold you the coffee.
The employees of the manufacturer of your coffee maker.
The employees of the store that sold you the coffee maker.
The farmer who raised the hens for your eggs.
The staff of the chicken farm who gathered the eggs.
The truck driver who drove the eggs to the warehouse.
The warehouse staff that kept the eggs safe, clean and dry.
The truck driver who drove the eggs to the store.
The staff of the grocery store that sold you the eggs.
The farmer who planted and harvested the wheat for your toast.
The staff of the farm who processed the wheat into flour.
The truck driver who drove the flour to the bakery.
The staff of the bakery that made and packaged the bread.
The truck driver who drove the bread to the store.
The staff of the grocery store that sold you the bread.
The employees of the companies who made your computers and mobile devices.
The miners who dug up the minerals for your device’s components.
The truck drivers who drove the minerals to the processing plants.
The employees of the processing plants who made usable part for the devices.
The truck drivers who drove the parts to the factory.
The employees of the third-party providers who made your device’s materials such as chips, glass screens, batteries, etc.
The factory employees who assembled the computers and mobile devices.
The truck drivers who drove the devices to port.
The crew of the ships that sailed the devices to the U.S.
The truck drivers that drove the devices to the warehouses.
The staff of the warehouses that stored the inventory.
The truck drivers who drove the devices to stores.
The staff of the store who sold you your devices.
The workers who gathered the cotton for your clothes.
The staff of the textile plant that converted your cotton into fabric.
The truck driver who drove the fabric to the factory.
The factory staff who converted the fabric into clothes.
The truck driver who drove the clothes to port.
The crew of the ship that sailed the clothes to the U.S.
The truck driver who drove the clothes to the warehouse.
The staff of the warehouse that stored the clothes.
The truck driver who drove the clothes to the store.
The staff of the store who sold you the clothes.
The miners, the workers, and the farmers who gathered the raw chemicals for your toiletries.
The truck drivers who drove the chemicals to the processing plants.
The staff of the many chemical plants that manufactured your toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, shampoo, conditioner, soap, vitamins, medications, and more.
The truck drivers who drove the products to the warehouses.
The staffs of those warehouses.
The truck drivers who drove the products to stores.
The staff of the stores who sold you the products.
The FDA food and product safety inspectors who inspected your food, medicines, and other products.
The OSHA safety staff who licensed the workers and protected their workplaces.
The Department of Transportation at federal and state levels that ensured safe, quality roadways for you and all the truckers above to drive on.
The state troopers, county sheriffs, and municipal police that kept drivers safe from lawbreakers.
The Better Business Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Trade Commission, and various business licensing bureaus who prevented businesses from scamming you or selling you sh*tty, dangerous products.
The NOAA and National Weather Service staffers and meteorologists who gathered data to predict weather systems, and who modeled threats such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes.
The internet service providers who maintained your internet service and the servers of all the other organizations in this list.
The Environmental Protection Agency that helped keep your air and water clean.
The Food and Drug Administration that tested the food and medication you put into your body.
The Centers for Disease Control that prevented outbreaks, monitored spread, and administered medications to mitigate the effects of diseases.
The Securities and Exchange Commission that tried to ensure the stock market won’t collapse due to shortsighted greed.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that helped prevent bank failures that would erode the value of all your money, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) bank examiners who kept banks from defrauding you.
The staff of the banks that hold your money and help you build savings.
The Social Security Administration that tracks your payments so that you can withdraw them in the future.
The Department of Homeland Security that prevented a terrorist attack (hopefully).
The journalists who kept you informed about local, national, and world events so that you can be an informed voter in elections, and make informed decisions about your daily movements, purchases, travel decisions, investments, and more.
The airport ground crew and airline mechanics who kept all the planes in the air.
The air traffic controllers who prevented planes from colliding.
The pilots, cabin crew, and air marshals who kept safe the planes you fly in.
The airport staff and TSA agents who maintain airport operations.
The airline personnel who built and delivered safe aircraft.
The drivers of the cars and cabs who took you to and from the airport.
The restaurant workers who prepared your safe and tasty lunch, and the dishwashers who cleaned the dishes.
The maintenance workers and janitors who cleaned the bathrooms you use.
The hotel staff and their housekeeping personnel who cleaned your room.
The municipal water system personnel who tested your water and kept it clean.
The municipal sanitation department personnel who kept your streets clean.
The energy and power company personnel who kept the lights on in your home and everyone else’s.
The insurance company personnel who will answer the phone and provide you with services in the event of a life, home, or automotive emergency.
The EMTs and hospital staff who were ready to assist you at a moment’s notice in an emergency.
The fire department staff who were ready to assist you at a moment’s notice in an emergency.
The 911 dispatchers who were ready to assist you at a moment’s notice in an emergency.
The poison control operators who were ready to assist you at a moment’s notice in an emergency.
The tow truck company employees who were ready to assist you at a moment’s notice in an emergency.
The AAA or other roadside assistance operators who were ready to assist you at a moment’s notice in an emergency.
The nurses and doctors of your doctor’s office who were ready to assist you with your symptoms.
The dentist and his staff who kept your teeth clean and healthy.
The staff of the dealership that sold you your car.
The employees of the car company that made your car.
The state safety inspectors who inspected your car on a regular basis.
The employees of all the companies that provided your car company with materials such as tires, fabric, computers, AC, and other technology.
The staff of the garage that performed your oil changes and other maintenance.
The staff of the body shop that fixed your car.
The staff and corporate employees of the gas station chain where you bought your fuel.
The staff of the oil companies that made your fuel.
The inspectors who tested the safety of your gas station fuel pumps.
The truck drivers who delivered your fuel to the gas station.
The employees of the refineries who generated your gasoline.
The employees of the oil companies that extracted the petroleum to make your gas.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement that regulated offshore oil extraction so your beaches and your seafood don’t get covered in oil.
The mayor and municipal employees of your city who made decisions on your behalf about how best to allocate your city services.
The governor and state legislators who made decisions on your behalf about how best to allocate your state services and determine your state’s laws.
The city and county judges and attorneys who determined the outcome of criminal cases that prosecuted the criminals or exonerated the innocent (ideally).
The teachers who taught your children for 7 hours today.
The cafeteria staff who fed your children.
The school administrators who operated the schools and hired the teachers.
The editors, writers, and administrators who published your textbooks.
The school boards who decided which textbooks will be used (for better or worse).
The companies who made the non-toxic school supplies, sturdy backpacks, and food containers.
The coworkers at your job who provided you with materials, provided you with information, oversaw your work, provided feedback on your performance, and issued your checks.
The customers of your company who paid your salary.
The friends and family members of yours who kept you sane. And the ones who didn’t.
The elected, hired, and appointed members of the federal government, who set the policies that impacted all of the above.
This list is an extremely abridged fraction of all the people you depend on every hour of the day. The list could be deepened and extended for many hours.
Most of us understand that we need each other’s services. But really, we need each other. The central tenet of Western life is not “Every Man for Himself.” We are in this together. Individualism is a lie we’ve been sold by Madison Avenue because individualism sells more units. If they can pit us against the Joneses, we’ll buy whatever is being advertised so that we can keep up.
If we were truly independent individuals, we could be dropped naked into a forest with no tools and make for ourselves a livable, enjoyable life. An extremely small number of people can accomplish that, and if they can, they’re probably lying about their quality of life.
Look back at the list, and you’ll see a few instances where an attack of some kind could potentially ruin your day or your life. I marked a few with parentheses. Maybe you don’t think the CDC does such a great job, for example – but you must consider all the times an easily identified outbreak was successfully contained, and you just didn’t hear about it. We only hear about the things that don’t go right.
Also, tally up every time I referred to a truck driver. It’s a lot, isn’t it? It’s way more than you probably thought. Each of us needs a lot of truck drivers every single day.
As you go about your day and participate in our consumer economy, think about all the ways that we’re in this together. We’re not competing with each other to win some kind of capitalist game. We need each other and we need government to do the things that the market can’t (or won’t) do.