Many years ago, I attended an event that was a failure. A sizeable number of people were involved but success or failure rested on the leadership of one individual. What followed was an utter abdication of responsibility. It was obvious no preparation had been made. The “leader” did nothing the occasion demanded. No one’s life was endangered but everyone’s time was wasted. Clearly the leader had little or no respect for those who made the effort to participate.

When the Mountain Men headed out into the wilderness they carried with them almost everything they could possibly need. They frequently used pack animals but they all personally carried a “Possibles Bag”. The Possibles Bag varied in size but it contained those things absolutely critical for survival. Some carried a larger bag that needed a strap to go over a shoulder, some had smaller bags that could be attached at the waist.

Larger bags might contain an extra knife, hatchet, gun powder, shot, but regardless of size, all contained the necessities for starting a fire. Without fire-starting material a man wouldn’t last long.

Today, unless we’re heading out on a backpacking trip, we don’t have to carry much. We need keys, wallet, and little else. Any other possibles, with the exception of prescription medicines, can be readily purchased as required. Our phones are as close to necessities as virtually anything can be for most of us but, even I have to reluctantly admit, my phone really isn’t absolutely necessary for survival.

To navigate life we need take along a different kind of possibles bag. We are bombarded with conflicting demands and it can be tricky to negotiate life without some critical necessities. The possibles we have to carry today are personal and psychological.

To successfully survive in society our possibles bag needs to contain, at an absolute minimum, basic respect for others. Sadly, some folks fail to understand the importance. There has always been a severe imbalance of power in our world and some folks have not been accorded basic respect.

None of us should want to come across like aggrieved adolescents who demand the right to do or say whatever we want regardless of the impact on others. Young folks often do get so wrapped up in their particular needs and desires they fail to recognize others have the right to respect and even some older folks, who ought to know better, demand the right to express themselves regardless of how their behavior impacts others.

At that failed event, the leader’s possibles bag was lacking respect, the critical element for accomplishing what was necessary. A spark was needed, the occasion demanded it, but there was no steel, no flint. It was embarrassing.

Dereliction of duty might feel like our right but our rights still end where others’ rights begin. We can’t demand what we deny to others.

The partisan divisions of our society today have been generated by those who serve themselves but fail to show basic respect for other folks.