The Unbreakable Human Chain: Why No One is "Self-Made"
TL;DR: Every single thing we use, from a bottle of ketchup to the internet, exists only because of a massive, hidden chain of human effort, making our interconnectedness, not individual superiority, the true fundamental force in life.
Let’s Dig In
Look at the device you’re reading this on. It didn’t just appear. The materials were pulled from the ground by one person, designed by another, assembled by thousands more, and shipped across the world by another entire network. You are the inheritor of this object, not its sole point of value. The entire system—the thing we call the value chain—is just a fancy name for an endless line of people working together.
Before about a hundred years ago, getting simple things like a hot shower or safely cooked, clean food was either a luxury or impossible. These advancements weren’t handed down by an aristocracy; they were built by a collective of individuals like you and me.
The danger comes when we fall for the modern trap of idolatry. When you see a celebrity, a business titan, or a sports hero, you’re looking at a person who is fundamentally no better or worse than you are. They simply had more resources and leveraged a bigger network of other people. When you accept the idea that these people are “above” you, you’re buying into a conditioned mindset designed to make you passively accept all forms of authority—the police, the politician, the wealthy elite.
Understanding this chain is critical: it’s not an adversarial setup, and it’s not a default setting of the universe. It’s an undeniable truth. From the seed planted in the spring to the food on your plate in the fall, you can’t go one day without the work, effort, and care of thousands of other people. Every single person in that chain—whether they’re the CEO or the person loading boxes—has the same basic needs: family, home, and food.
Unity, not isolation, is our default setting. We are biologically, socially, and economically linked. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the biological matter that sustains us is constantly recycled in a vast, planetary system. That inescapable interconnectedness is our greatest strength. When you realize that the person at the “top” of any chain is just another link—no better than the person at the bottom—you start to build influence by focusing on the collective strength of your network, not by chasing personal, detached “power.”
Go Deeper: Never take at face value anything that claims to inform or educate. These links are the receipts and come from reliable sources.
Link 1: Value chain analysis overview (Wikipedia) Link 2: The interconnectedness of labor in a globalized world (Harvard Business Review) Link 3: Collective action and social progress (Stanford Social Innovation Review) Link 4: The Universality of Human Experience and Shared Humanity (The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education) Link 5: The evolution of the modern supply chain (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals)