Marcus pictured all people as parts of one body, made to work together like hands, eyes, rows of teeth. When you help someone, you're not doing them a favor so much as doing what you're built for. And when you turn on each other, it's like a hand trying to harm the body it belongs to. This doesn't mean you owe everyone everything. It means your life is woven into other lives whether you notice it or not, the people who grew your food, the strangers you pass. Acting like you belong to something larger, with a little more patience, a little more help, isn't self-sacrifice. It's living in line with what you actually are.

Inspired by the old idea of sympatheia. Written by Ugo Charles.