This is John. John is currently shopping for corn to eat for dinner. As John leaves the store, he thinks to himself, what a great day to be independent. I'm glad I can provide for myself without having to rely on others. Now wait a minute. Is this really true? Can John provide for himself independently of others? Let's take a closer look. How did John get the corn? John picked it up off the shelf, which was stocked by a supermarket employee who received it from a shipment. The truck driver who brought the corn shipment got it from a warehouse many miles away. At this warehouse, many laborers sorted the corn. After receiving it from a different truck driver, who delivered it from a farm many more miles away. At this farm, the corn was harvested by a farmer, who grew the corn using the fertile soil and water provided by the earth and the light provided by the sun. All of these people, processes, and the earth were involved in getting the corn into John's hands. As it turns out, John is depending on a lot, so he may not be as independent as he thinks. Not only that, but all of these people also rely on John to buy the corn to ensure their livelihoods. Even the corn relies on John's support so that the farmer can continue to cultivate it and help it grow. But why doesn't John see these relationships? It's hard for John to recognize how interconnected he is to so many other people as well as the earth when he's so separated from them. He is separated from them by physical distance, the anonymous processes of production that obscure the identities of the workers, and by his unawareness of the web that connects them. But why does it matter if John does not see this interdependence? Are there any consequences if John keeps on thinking that he's independent? Well, if John can't see how he depends on the store employees, the truck drivers, the warehouse workers, the farmers, and the earth, then he won't think about their well-being or how their well-being affects his. As long as John gets his corn, that's all that matters to him. So when the warehouse workers or the store employees or the truck drivers or the farmers aren't being paid enough, it doesn't matter to John. When the many miles the corn has to travel to get to the store uses up tons of fossil fuels contributing the climate change, it doesn't matter to John. When planting corn on the same plot of land season after season depletes the soil of nutrients, it doesn't matter to John. When the fertilizers that are used to synthetically replace these nutrients contaminate the water, it doesn't matter to John. John's continual indifference to all such things perpetuates the degradation of nature and human life. But what if he saw all of these relationships every time he bought the corn? What if instead of seeing himself as being fundamentally separate, he saw his existence as being fundamentally relational within a web of the earth and all of the people and processes? If John began to see this, then he would realize that he cannot live without any of these things. Without the warehouse workers or the store employees or the truck drivers or the farmers, John would not have corn or any food for that matter. What's more, without the earth, John would not have anything. If John could see his interdependencies, then he would recognize the need to value and take care of all these links in the web. John is one link in the web of mutuality with all of them. He cannot exist separately. What about you? What depends on you? On what do you depend?