HELP

Never be afraid to ask for help.

There are many good people who genuinely want to help you. They don’t want to support you and they don’t want to take on an unnecessary or excessive burden, but they are often willing to lend a hand, offer advice, or be there for you in a moment of need.

Be independent. Strive to be self-sufficient. Never abuse the generosity of others. Always be grateful for any assistance you receive. Never assume that you’re entitled to receive anything you haven’t earned. But never be afraid to ask for help.

The world is changing rapidly and radically. We’re at the threshold of a technological revolution that will swell the ranks of the unemployed.

People who don’t need help today
will need help tomorrow.

And that could include you or someone in your family.

We already see it happening all around us—friends who have lost their jobs or can’t get jobs; students who graduate with crushing debt and can’t find jobs requiring a college degree; people over forty who have lost their jobs and have difficulty securing new jobs because of their age. Times are tough for many. And the changing nature of employment, together with the absence of available resources for retraining and reskilling, will make things tougher for millions more.

So, it’s important that you understand that you can and should ask for help. It is even more important that you understand that humanity is profoundly interdependent-we need each other to survive and thrive. Millions more will soon be unemployed—not as a consequence of a poor economy but as a consequence of an automated economy. A poor economy would further increase these numbers.

If we operate on the principle of “survival of the fittest” or “I’m not my brother’s keeper,” what do you believe will happen to the unemployed? Do you believe that millions more will suffer in silence—as many do in third world countries? I don’t. America’s poor are far more educated, empowered and entitled than the poor of third world countries. They will not suffer and/or starve in silence. Many will commit crimes to feed themselves and their families. And this will affect everyone’s quality of life.

The changes that are coming will not
only adversely affect the displaced and
the disenfranchised. their plight will
adversely affect all of us.

Ultimately, we will come to understand that “survival of the fittest” is not in our mutual self-interest. Rather, it is in our mutual self-interest to help our neighbor to not only survive but to thrive. It is only through that recognition that real and sustainable progress will be possible.

Nature provides an interesting example of profound interdependence. The fire ant can’t swim. In heavy rains, they lock their legs and form floating rafts to avoid drowning. Alone, they would perish-together they survive. Humans behave the same way in times of crisis. We see this in natural disasters all across the world.

We need to learn that it is essential for us to help others before crisis strikes. Our own quality of life and that of our family, ultimately depends on our helping others.

In other words, helping others is not only the
right thing to do for those in need—It is essential to
our own quality of life and our own survival.