There is a great indelible interconnectedness of humanity. When we fail our friends and neighbors, and even the stranger down the way, through our vanity, selfishness, greed, envy, fear, indifference, or complacency, something dies in us all. When we fail to even know about, or acknowledge someone's suffering, which is in obvious sight, much less attempt to ease it, the world is made a darker place. The failure of that individual to act represents an atomic failure of humanity itself. The world markets of optimism and hope can plummet because of the actions or inactions of a single person. The upside to this is that the good works of even one person can represent the whole of humanity's triumph through that sole heroic act. In reality, one person can make a difference, and a difference that can move through the masses as a seismic wave, transforming an entire ethos overnight. Look at the enormous impact the frail-bodied Gandhi had on two violently clashing cultures, with his simple spiritual exercises of defiance, selflessness, loving other people and valuing human life. And that was even without the power of media to move his ideas around quickly. Like a cultural or emotional butterfly effect, one person really can make a difference. Each person is the revolution.
