Thing don’t just happen.
That phrase is simple enough. Taken at face value most people would probably say that they agree with it.
And yet, the lack of truly understanding what this means is the root of most problems in our world.
Everything that comes to actuality in our world was put into existence by someone.
Everything that comes to pass took effort, drive, vision, persistence, action, and, above all, thought.
Our world doesn’t naturally get better. It is not a fact of our existence or of time that the future is better than the past.
Our world is wealthier, more comfortable, more just, more fun, and more convenient than the world in 1500, not because 500+ years have passed, but because of thoughtful, determined people set on producing value for themselves and those around them. It took centuries of capital formation and accumulation. Of discipline. Of risk taking. Of saving.
Medical care doesn’t just happen because a government decrees that all people should have it. It takes a spontaneous order of hardworking individuals. Researchers, entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors–indeed anyone of the thousands of people involved in the production of hospitals, equipment, research facilities, and trained people to fill and operate it all.
This is true for everything. Even the seemingly simplest item or process either took immense, concerted thought and effort to bring into being, or continually takes immense, concerted thought and effort to keep in being.
Things cannot be simply willed into this world.
From medical care, to the wealth of a particular society (corollaries being working conditions, wages, safety standards, and much much more), to environmental solutions, to the computer I’m typing on, to the pencil I take notes with–all of them took thinking, forward-looking, competent, and persistent individuals to make a reality.
The implications of this make many people uncomfortable. But we would all do well to remember it.