Invest in Each Other

Martin Luther King Jr. once shared, "There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that that have nothing to lose. People who have stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it." While he was thinking of the struggles that black Americans (and those within other minority races), his words still hold true. I have no idea what the next few years might look like, but I’ve seen a large increase in the number of people who feel that they have nothing more to lose. They feel like no matter how hard they work, that their community around them either takes advantage of them or isn’t in any position to help them. As a therapist, there are a few things that I can do to help, but largely, big-picture societal problems are not for any one person to fix; we simply aren’t capable of it. What needs to happen is a collective shift to include more people, and to show with our actions that they are protected, that their efforts aren’t in vain. Power needs to be balanced.

"There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that that have nothing to lose. People who have stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it."

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.