The American dream. The American work ethic. The American pioneer spirit.
If you listen to the slogans, you can’t help but think it’s everyone for themselves and that every person’s success or failure is completely their own.
Thinking and feeling this way feeds a certain sense of desperation. Everyone is tempted to think, “The outcome is riding on me. Everything that happens, or doesn’t happen, is because of me.”
Realistically, though, no one is completely on their own. Every step of the way, we have met people who protected us and taught us. And for all the power of the American individualistic spirit, no one, not even pioneers, has succeeded alone.
Decades ago, Milwaukee’s King Drive was a thriving retail center. Then hard times fell on the surrounding neighborhood and the businesses lining King Drive.
Today, the street is making a comeback, spurred by entrepreneurs who are working together to help one another and the community. Business owners have formed an association and have worked to have sites on the street declared historic buildings.
They also offer training and loans to new King Drive business owners because, as Lennie Mosely, who moved her already-established business to King Drive, explains, “We want to have more of a stake in the community. You talk about having a dream. Well, our dreams are happening here.
“We make it clear to everybody who gives this place a try: ‘You are not in this by yourself, we’re in this together.’”
Said one urban planning researcher of their efforts, “From what I’ve seen around the country, King Drive stands out as one of the best examples of inner-city redevelopment.”
People who acknowledge the interdependent nature of life, the importance of human connections and our collective existence, were twice as likely to consider themselves successful as those who held completely individualistic views.
Carpenter 2000