How often have you heard the expression, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps?” The conservative circle likes to bring it up whenever justifying getting the government out of our lives. I’m not disagreeing with my fellow conservatives on the idea of less government intervention; however, this often seems to be a green light to neglect those who are underprivileged. “Come on! You must take responsibility for your life! Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get a move on!” Okay, maybe they don’t always say those words exactly, but the sentiment is common. If you use that to promote less government intervention, does it mean that you don’t have the responsibility to pick up your fellow man or woman? Here in the United States and the West, we have the privilege of living in systems where the people govern themselves. If we see a homelessness crisis, the people have the power to address the matter. The church has the freedom to involve themselves in their community to meet their needs, whatever they may be. Yes, I am talking to the conservative church, too. Let’s put “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” into context.
There is a plethora of people who do not have bootstraps to pull on. You didn’t have bootstraps at one point, nor did you know how to pull on them. That’s right: you were lied to if you thought you achieved your success all by your own willpower. The thing is, at some point in your life, somebody saw you as an investment worthy of giving boots to. At times, you may have needed assistance. Let me put it another way. Imagine that you were on the brink of bankruptcy. Sure, you could grab boots to put on to get yourself out of debt; but if you don’t know what steps you must to take to get out, then how the hell are you going to know how to put those boots on properly? Or, imagine that you were born into poverty—how are you going to pull on your own bootstraps with nothing to pull?
See, there are times in our lives when we do not seek the boots, yet someone else sees that we need them, or to be taught how to put them on. Sometimes you do indeed seek the boots, but someone still must see you as a worthy investment to give them to. You own a business, yet you rely on certain people to see your company as worthy of participating in. When you buy a home, a bank must see you as a risk worth taking. When you apply for any job, the manager is the one who decides whether to give you their bootstraps. We are not 100% dependent nor independent beings, but interdependent. We need each other. Everybody gets a little help from somewhere at some point in their lives. So, if we don’t want the government to take responsibility for our lives and problems, then perhaps it is time we seek out the people who need the help. Start pouring into lives that need life. Give someone a candle when they are in their darkest moment—guide them. Start your own healthcare facilities to bring healthcare costs down. Start organizations to help the poor and needy; build facilities for the homeless; etcetera. The more we understand that we’re interdependent and have the ability address weak points in society, the less we’ll see people cling to the government as a solution to their problems. All of us have a responsibility to ourselves and each other.